Cardioprotection

Cardioprotection via brain-gut-heart signalling: GLP-1 activates KATP channels in coronary pericytes

Coronary no-reflow, which impacts roughly half of patients following artery reopening for myocardial infarction, remains a major clinical challenge. Here we demonstrate that the incretin GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) can be used to protect the …

Towards spatially selective efferent neuromodulation: anatomical and functional organization of cardiac fibres in the porcine cervical vagus nerve

Spatially selective vagus nerve stimulation (sVNS) offers a promising approach for addressing heart disease with enhanced precision. Spatially-selective VNS offers a promising solution to induce cardioprotection while mitigating off-target effects by …

Cardiac pericytes

Regulation of coronary blood flow in health and disease

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) mediates cardioprotection by remote ischaemic conditioning

AIMS. Although the nature of the humoral factor which mediates cardioprotection established by remote ischaemic conditioning (RIc) remains unknown, parasympathetic (vagal) mechanisms appear to play a critical role. As the production and release of …

Identifying the source of a humoral factor of remote (pre)conditioning cardioprotection

Signalling pathways underlying the phenomenon of remote ischaemic preconditioning (RPc) cardioprotection are not completely understood. The existing evidence agrees that intact sensory innervation of the remote tissue/organ is required for the …

Cardioprotection evoked by remote ischaemic preconditioning is critically dependent on the activity of vagal pre-ganglionic neurones

This study demonstrates a crucial dependence of remote ischaemic preconditioning cardioprotection against ischaemia/reperfusion injury upon the activity of a distinct population of vagal pre-ganglionic neurones.

Remote ischaemic pre- and delayed postconditioning – similar degree of cardioprotection but distinct mechanisms

Myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion injury can be significantly reduced by an episode(s) of ischaemia–reperfusion applied prior to or during myocardial ischaemia (MI) to peripheral tissue located at a distance from the heart; this phenomenon is called …