Transient and reversible deoxyribonucleic acid damage in human left ventricle under controlled ischemia and reperfusion.

Objectives: We sought to describe the sequence of molecular events during ischemia and reperfusion of the human heart and to determine the activation of stress kinases and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage response elements on apoptosis in ischemia or reperfusion of the human heart.

Background: Brief ischemia is tolerated by cardiac myocytes, but it determines immediate metabolic changes and block of contraction. Prompt restoration of coronary blood flow is inexorably associated with a slow recovery of myocardial contractile function.

Nitric oxide in ischemic and reperfused human muscle.

Background: Biochemical events explaining the pathology of ischemia-reperfusion in the muscle are still debated. Nitric oxide (NO) has been postulated to be implicated in these phenomena, but the short half-life of this compound makes it difficult to measure.

Methods: In this paper, we used an amperometric solid-sate sensor to measure NO concentrations in frozen human muscles before, during and after a period of ischemia.