Both the incidence of acute ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and the mortality from STEMI have decreased over the last 3 decades. However, despite the success of reperfusion therapy by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or thrombolysis, STEMI is still of significant concern. Although door-to-balloon time for primary PCI has declined, mortality has not, possibly b...

In spite of the current optimal therapy, the mortality of patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains high, particularly in cases with diabetes mellitus (DM) as a co-morbidity. Myocardial infarct size is a major determinant of prognosis in IHD patients, and development of a novel strategy to limit infarction is of great clinical importance. Ischemic preconditioning (PC), postconditioning...

The phenomenon termed postconditioning, that is, brief episodes of ischemia/reperfusion at the onset of reperfusion reduce infarct size, is thought to involve the activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. Treatment with a drug activating PI3K at the onset of reperfusion may confer a similar cardioprotection. The sulfonylurea glimepiride has been shown to activate PI3K ...

The present study was aimed to investigate the probable role of Tyrphostin AG 490, a selective inhibitor of Janus kinase-2 (JAK-2) in hyperhomocysteinemia-induced attenuation of the cardioprotective potential of ischemic postconditioning (IPOC). Rats were administered L-methionine (1.7 g/kg/day, p.o.) for 4 weeks to produce hyperhomocysteinemia. Isolated Langendorff's perfused normal and hyperh...