We read with interest the study by Christiansen and colleagues [1] in the previous issue of Critical Care. In a large cohort study, the authors report that among diabetic patients who are admitted to the ICU, the preadmission use of metformin is associated with a lower mortality rate. Here, we highlight that metformin limits ischemiareperfusion injury (IRI) and modulates inflammation by increas...

RECENT EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE suggests that the anion nitrite represents an important storage form of nitric oxide (NO) that subsequently regulates a number of very important physiological activities (2–5, 10). This is a radical concept because nitrite was largely considered to be a biologically inert breakdown product of NO that served no physiological purpose. In fact, circulating nitrite leve...

Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are small, lipid-soluble gaseous autacoids that modulate numerous physiological processes. Historically, both gases were considered highly noxious environmental hazards having well-defined modes of toxicity: CO binds avidly to hemoglobin reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the protein leading to tissue hypoxia while H2S is a potent mitochondr...

Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is an intrinsic phenomenon whereby 3~4 consecutive ischemia-reperfusion cycles to a remote tissue (noncardiac) increases the tolerance of the myocardium to sustained ischemiareperfusion induced injury. Remote ischemic preconditioning induces the local release of chemical mediators which activate the sensory nerve endings to convey signals to the brain. The...

introduction: nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (nadph) oxidase-2 (nox2) is one of the predominant sources of ros production during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion and can be induced by angiotensin ii. the evidence suggests that pharmacological blockers of renin-angiotensin system can exert direct tissue effects independent of their ability to regulate blood pressure. the mechanism(s)...

awareness of the presence of the accessory renal artery in kidney transplant, treatment of renal artery stenosis, clinical assessment of renal vascular hypertension, radiology and angiography interventions is very helpful. in 30% of cases the accessory renal artery is separated from the abdominal aorta and in most cases, this artery along with the main artery entered to the kidney through the h...

EVEN BEFORE the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) was known to be nitric oxide (NO), it was recognized that it could be inactivated by the radical superoxide (O2 · ) (16). Once the EDRF was identified as NO, the chemistry underlying this phenomenon was obvious. Both NO and O2 · are radicals, and rapidly react with one another to form the strong oxidant peroxynitrite, which ultimately d...

background: numerical study of angulation effects of renal arteries on blood flow has been of great interest for many researchers. objective: this paper aims at numerically determining the angulation effects of stenosed renal arteries on blood flow velocity and renal mass flow. method: an anatomically realistic model of abdominal aorta and renal arteries is reconstructed from ct-scan images and...

background. the major side effect of cisplatin, used in some tumours, is nephrotoxicity. reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage are the most important factors in cisplatin-induced acute renal failure. the main purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effects of crocin against cisplatin-induced acute renal failure and oxidative stress in rat. methods. in this study, animals w...