Effect of isoflurane postconditioning on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rabbits

Objective To observe the protective effect of isoflurane postconditioning on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion(I-R) injury and underlying potential mechanisms.Methods Sixty male New Zealand white rabbits weighing 2.5-3.0 kg were randomly assigned into 5 groups:sham group(group A) ,IR group(group B) ,post IR group(group C) ,ISO group(group D) and ISO+wortmannin group(group E) .HR and MAP were recorded before occlusion(T0) ,30 min after occlusion(T1) ,30 min(T2) ,60 min(T3) and 120 min(T4) after reperfusion.At the end of the reperfusion,infarct size were defined by Evan's and TTC staining;Cardiac myocyte apoptosis was determined quantitatively by TUNEL method;phosphorylated Akt and total Akt expression were detected with Western Blot.Results No statistical difference was observed in hemodynamics values among the five groups.Compared with group B,groups C and D reduced infarct size and apoptosis index(P0.05) ,and upregulated p-Akt expression(P0.05) .But this effect of isoflurane were significantly reversed by wortmannin(P0.05) .Conclusion Isoflurane postconditioning can reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury in rabbits by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway.