BACKGROUND Titin is the largest mammalian (≈3000 to 4000 kDa) and myofilament protein that acts as a molecular spring in the cardiac sarcomere and determines systolic and diastolic function. Loss of titin in ischemic hearts has been reported, but the mechanism of titin degradation is not well understood. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is localized to the cardiac sarcomere and, on activation...

Reperfusion injury limits the benefits of revascularization in the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI). Breathing nitric oxide (NO) reduces cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury in animal models; however, the signaling pathways by which inhaled NO confers cardioprotection remain uncertain. The objective of this study was to learn whether inhaled NO reduces cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury ...

Background and Purpose—Patients who are anticoagulated after cerebral ischemia have a 19-fold-higher risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) if they had an arterial rather than a cardiac source. To determine whether this excess risk of ICH was due to the underlying disease (cerebral ischemia of arterial versus cardiac origin) or whether it depended on the antithrombotic regimen, we studied the r...

Acute ischemia results in deadly cardiac arrhythmias that are a major contributor to sudden cardiac death (SCD). The electrophysiological changes involved have been extensively studied, yet the mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmias during acute ischemia remain unclear. What is known is that during acute ischemia both focal (ectopic excitation) and nonfocal (reentry) arrhythmias occur, due to an...

INTRODUCTION Patients with acute chest pain remain a great diagnostic challenge to emergency physicians. It is estimated that 30% of patients presenting with chest pain will be diagnosed with an acute coronary syndrome. [1] However, none of the traditional clinical data, 12-lead ECG, biochemical markers of necrosis, or imaging techniques can be considered a true gold standard for the diagnosis ...

BACKGROUND The role of NO in the mechanism of preconditioning is not understood. Therefore, we studied the effect of preconditioning and subsequent ischemia/reperfusion on myocardial NO content in the presence of an NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor. METHODS AND RESULTS Isolated working rat hearts were subjected to preconditioning protocols of 3 intermittent periods of rapid pacing or no-flow ische...

BACKGROUND Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) provides a bridge to recovery after myocardial injury in infants and children, yet morbidity and mortality remain high. Weaning from the circuit requires adequate cardiac contractile function, which can be impaired by metabolic disturbances induced either by ischemia-reperfusion and/or by ECMO. We tested the hypothesis that although ECMO par...

Coronary artery disease leads to injury and loss of myocardial tissue by deprivation of blood flow (ischemia) and is a major underlying cause of heart failure. Prolonged ischemia causes necrosis and apoptosis of cardiac myocytes and vascular cells; however, the mechanisms of ischemia-mediated cell death are poorly understood. Ischemia is associated with both hypoxia and acidosis due to increase...

Objective(s): Gallic acid (GA), a potent anti-oxidant, plays an important role in reducing diabetic induced cardiac disorders. Therefore, the present investigation was purposed to determine the beneficial effect of GA in cardiac arrhythmias during reperfusion in diabetes induced by alloxan. Materials and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats...