Use of an adenosine triphosphate-based 'cocktail' early in reperfusion substantially improves brain protein synthesis after global ischemia in rats.

Neurological damage is a serious problem after cardiac arrest and resuscitation. We used a rat cardiac arrest model to test the ability of a post-ischemic infusion of adenosine triphosphate-magnesium chloride (ATP-MgCl(2)) to sustain cortical protein synthesis after 7 min global ischemia. We used norepinephrine (NE) to block the vasodilatory action of ATP, and a trace of vanadate to simulate the equine-derived ATP Chaudry used to protect against ischemia or hemorrhage in other organs.