Left ventricular (LV) remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) results in LV dilation, a major cause of congestive heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Ischemic injury and the ensuing inflammatory response participate in LV remodeling, leading to myocardial rupture and LV dilation. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), which accumulates in the infarct zone, is released from neutrophils and monocytes lea...

INTRODUCTION Myocardial preservation during open heart surgeries and harvesting for transplant are of great importance. The heart at the end of procedure has to resume its functions as soon as possible. All cardioplegic solutions are based on potassium for induction of cardioplegic arrest. OBJECTIVE To assess a cardioplegic solution with no potassium addition to the formula with two other com...

BACKGROUND Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) I and II improve myocardial function after coronary occlusion in different animal models. OBJECTIVES To investigate the mechanism of improved myocardial function after administration of IGF-I or IGF-II in acute myocardial infarction. METHODS Female pigs (mean (SD) weight 25 (5) kg) were subjected to acute myocardial infarction by microembolisatio...

To investigate the potential cardioprotective effects of Shuang Shen Ning Xin on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Wistar rats were treated with trimetazidine (10 mg/kg/day, ig), Shuang Shen Ning Xin (22.5, 45 mg/kg/day, ig), or saline for 5 consecutive days. Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 40 min and reper...

The effects of intravenous administration of iloprost, a prostacyclin analogue, on myocardial energy metabolism and myocardial blood flow (MBF) were examined in anesthetized open-chest dogs subjected to 60 min of myocardial ischemia by coronary ligation. Iloprost administration at levels of 0.1 or 0.2 micrograms/kg/min was started 30 min before the commencement of ischemia and continued through...

Background Early and effective flow through the infarctrelated vessel is probably of paramount importance for limitation of infarct size and preservation of left ventricular function in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Primary coronary angioplasty may offer advantages in these respects compared with thrombolytic therapy. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects on es...

BACKGROUND Myocardial preservation during open heart surgery is a subject of intense investigation. A prerequisite for further improvement is a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms responsible for postoperative myocardial stunning. In this report, we analyzed the role of apoptosis in myocardial stunning. METHODS Myocardial samples were obtained from 11 patients u...

The administration of hyaluronidase is a promising intervention to protect the ischemic myocardium in man, but evidence of the extent to which it may reduce the ultimate size of an infarct is not well-defined. Hence, open chest, anesthetized dogs were randomized into 10 control dogs which received saline and eight treated dogs which received three doses of hyaluronidase (500 NF units/kg I.V.) a...

Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, including cardioplegic arrest (CA), has been associated with cardiac apoptosis induction. However, the time course of apoptosis activation and the trigger mechanisms are still unclear. Because apoptosis inhibition may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for long-term myocardial preservation, we sought to investigate the time course of apoptosis signal-pathway...

Inflammation promotes endothelial dysfunction, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined in vivo. Using translational vascular function testing myocardial infarction patients, a situation where inflammation is prevalent, and knock-out (KO) mouse models we demonstrate role for mitogen-activated-protein-kinases (MAPKs) dysfunction. Myocardial significantly lowers mitogen stress kinase 1...