Abstract:
The increase in the incidence of ischaemic heart disease and
acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in both high- and lowincome
countries necessitates the development of myocardial
salvaging/protection interventions, to be applied alongside
standard reperfusion therapies. Although the phenomenon
of ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) is associated with the
desired protective capacity, the necessity of its application
before sustained ischaemia limits its clinical potential.
The recently described phenomenon of postconditioning
(postC), or short cycles of reperfusion/ischaemia applied at
the onset of reperfusion, falls within the clinically relevant
time period of reperfusion, but can it elicit reliable and
potent cardioprotection? The answer to this problem is intimately
related to the question whether postC can be translated
from a laboratory technique to a clinical therapy.
In this brief overview of postconditioning, the experimental
set-ups and postC algorithms utilised, and their
associated outcomes in all animal models studied (dog,
rabbit, mouse, rat and pig) are discussed. The therapeutic
potential of postC is also addressed by discussing reported
preliminary studies on the efficacy and feasibility of postC
(both ischaemic and pharmacological) in humans.
