Myocardial protection in reperfusion with postconditioning.

Reperfusion is the definitive treatment for coronary occlusive disease. However, reperfusion carries the potential to exacerbate lethal injury, termed 'reperfusion injury'. Studies have suggested that reperfusion injury events are triggered during the early moments of reflow, and determine, in part, the severity of downstream manifestations of postischemic injury, including endothelial dysfunction, infarction and apoptosis. The application of brief iterative episodes of reflow (reoxygenation) and reocclusion (ischemia, hypoxia) at the immediate onset of reperfusion, which has been termed 'postconditioning' by the authors, reduces many manifestations of postischemic injury, notably infarct size, apoptosis, coronary vascular endothelial injury and reperfusion arrhythmias. Cardioprotection with postconditioning has been reported to be comparable with that observed using the gold standard maneuver ischemic preconditioning. In contrast to preconditioning, which exerts its effects primarily during the index ischemia, postconditioning appears to exert its effects during reperfusion alone. Postconditioning modifies the early phase of reperfusion in ways that are just beginning to be understood. It appears to first: reduce the oxidant burden and consequent oxidant-induced injury; secondly, attenuate the local inflammatory response to reperfusion; and thirdly, engage end effectors and signaling pathways implicated in other cardioprotective maneuvers, such as ischemic and pharmacologic preconditioning. Postconditioning seems to trigger the upregulation of survival kinases principally known to attenuate the pathogenesis of apoptosis and possibly necrosis. The postconditioning phenomenon has been reproduced by a number of independent laboratories and has been observed in both large and small animal in vivo models, as well as in ex vivo and cell culture models. In contrast to preconditioning, postconditioning may have widespread clinical application because it can be applied during reperfusion at the point of service for angioplasty, stenting, cardiac surgery and organ transplantation.