Nitric oxide has no obligatory role in isoflurane late preconditioning against myocardial stunning.

Aims: Isoflurane has been demonstrated to produce late preconditioning against myocardial stunning. We tested the hypothesis that this effect is dependent upon an increased production of nitric oxide.

Main Methods: Studies were performed in 18 conscious dogs, chronically instrumented to measure coronary blood flow and myocardial wall thickening (WT).

Oxidative injury induces selective rather than global inhibition of proteasomal activity.

Oxidative injury has been found to be associated with proteasomal inactivity. In this study, the extent of oxidative damage and its effects on proteasomal function has been critically assessed. Left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded (ischemia) and reperfused with or without preconditioning in male Sprague-Dawley rats.

Overexpression of glutaredoxin-2 reduces myocardial cell death by preventing both apoptosis and necrosis.

Mitochondrial glutaredoxin-2 (Glrx2) has been recognized as an important redox regulator in mammalian organs including heart. To date no investigations have addressed the potential role of Glrx2 in cardiac disorders. The present study examined if myocardial overexpression of Glrx2 in the heart could rescue the cardiac cells from apoptosis and necrosis induced by ischemia and reperfusion.

Role of glutaredoxin-1 in cardioprotection: an insight with Glrx1 transgenic and knockout animals.

This study examined if glutaredoxin-1 (Glrx1), a redox-regulator of thioredoxin superfamily, plays any role in the redox signaling of ischemic myocardium. The hearts were subjected to 30 min of coronary occlusion followed by 24 h of reperfusion. Another group of hearts was rendered tolerant to ischemia (preconditioned, PC) by four cyclic episodes of 5 min ischemia each followed by another 10 min of reperfusion, which was then subjected to 30 min ischemia and 24 h of coronary occlusion.

Redox activation of Ref-1 potentiates cell survival following myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury.

A recent study showed that cardiac adaptation could potentiate translocation of thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) into the nucleus, which then interacted with Ref-1, resulting in a survival signal. Here, we present evidence that such adaptation also causes nuclear translocation of Ref-1, which is almost completely inhibited when the hearts were pretreated with antisense Ref-1 that also abolished the cardioprotective adaptive response. Significant amounts of NFkappaB and Nrf2 were found to be associated with Ref-1 when the nuclear extract obtained from the left ventricle was immunoprecipitated with Ref-1.

Ischemic preconditioning involves dual cardio-protective axes with p38MAPK as upstream target.

The existing literature indicates a crucial role of p38 MAP (mitogen-activated protein) kinase (p38MAPK) and its downstream target MAPKAP kinase 2 (MK2) in ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Accordingly, deletion of MK2 gene should abolish the cardioprotective ability of IPC. Interestingly, we were able to partially precondition the hearts from MK2(-/-) knockout mice suggesting the existence of an as yet unknown alternative downstream target of p38MAPK.

Comparison of cardiovascular effects of tiletamine-zolazepam, pentobarbital, and ketamine-xylazine in male rats.

We allocated 35 male Sprague-Dawley rats into 7 groups and anesthetized each by using one of the following regimens: ketamine 50 mg+xylaxine 5 mg; ketamine 75 mg+xylazine 5 mg; pentobarbital 45 mg; and Telazol 30, 40, 50, and 60 mg/kg; supplemental doses were used as required. Respiratory rate, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, cardiac index, and stroke index were measured every 30 min for 4 h. The Telazol groups showed a dose-dependent increase in duration of anesthesia.

Ischemic preconditioning triggers nuclear translocation of thioredoxin and its interaction with Ref-1 potentiating a survival signal through the PI-3-kinase-Akt pathway.

Thioredoxin (Trx-1), a key mediator of cellular redox homeostasis and cell survival, is implicated in redox signaling in the ischemic myocardium. To investigate further its mechanism of action, Trx expression in rat heart was suppressed by direct injection of small hairpin RNA against Trx-1 (shRNA-Trx-1). Forty-eight hours after treatment, hearts were excised for isolated working-heart preparation.

Targeted disruption of peroxiredoxin 6 gene renders the heart vulnerable to ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) is a novel peroxidase enzyme belonging to the Prdx family, which in mammals contains five more peroxiredoxins (Prdx1-Prdx5). Like glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and catalase, Prdx6 possesses H(2)O(2)-scavenging activities, and, like the former, it also removes hydroperoxides. Since significant amounts of catalase and GSHPx are present in the heart contributing toward the attenuation of H(2)O(2) and hydroperoxides formed during ischemia-reperfusion injury and thereby providing cardioprotection, we asked whether Prdx6 also has any role in this process.