The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
-
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Sep 2013
Ischemic postconditioning protects the spinal cord from ischemia-reperfusion injury via modulation of redox signaling.
It is well known that ischemic postconditioning reduces ischemic-reperfusion injury, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. The current study investigated the role of reactive oxygen species-mediated upregulation of endogenous antioxidant enzymes in the generation of a protective effect induced by ischemic postconditioning against spinal cord reperfusion injury in the rabbit. ⋯ The results indicate that reactive oxygen species-triggered upregulation of endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities may be involved in the mechanism of neuroprotection of ischemic postconditioning.
-
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Sep 2013
Regulating cardiac energy metabolism and bioenergetics by targeting the DNA damage repair protein BRCA1.
Alterations in cardiac energy and substrate metabolism play a critical role in the development and clinical course of heart failure. We hypothesized that the cardioprotective role of the breast cancer 1, early onset (BRCA1) gene might be mediated in part by alterations in cardiac bioenergetics. ⋯ Cardiomyocyte-specific loss of BRCA1 alters critical pathways of fatty acid and glucose metabolism, leading to an energy starved heart. BRCA1-based cell or gene therapy might serve as a novel target to improve cardiac bioenergetics in patients with heart failure.
-
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Sep 2013
Combined use of an epidural cooling catheter and systemic moderate hypothermia enhances spinal cord protection against ischemic injury in rabbits.
Epidural placement of a cooling catheter can protect against ischemic spinal cord injury. With the use of rabbits, we investigated whether this epidural cooling technique, when combined with systemic moderate hypothermia, can protect the spinal cord against ischemic metabolic stress. ⋯ Epidural cooling catheter combined with systemic moderate hypothermia produced additive cooling ability and protected the spinal cord against ischemia in rabbits more effectively than either intervention alone.
-
J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Sep 2013
Biography Historical ArticleHistorical perspectives of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery: James R. Malm.