Nitroglycerin-induced cardioprotection is endothelial nitric oxide synthase- dependent

Purpose We sought to evaluate the contribution of the endogenous NO pathway to the cardioprotective action of nitroglycerin (NTG). Methods and Results Anesthetized rabbits were subjected to 30-min myocardial ischemia (isc) and 3-h reperfusion (rep) and randomized into: Control group (no further intervention); PostC group (application of 8 cycles 30-sec isc/rep) and NTG treated group (2 μg/kg-1/min-1 IV bolus) for 65 min starting 10 min prior to rep. In additional groups, pharmacological inhibitors of NOS, nNOS, iNOS, PI3K, adenosine receptors and PKG were administrated with or without NTG. The infarcted (I) to risk (R) ratio was estimated. In a second experimental series tissue samples were…