New Strategy of Endothelial Protection in Cardiac Surgery: Use of Enhancer of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase

Background Endothelial dysfunction related to the loss of nitric oxide (NO) production remains an important issue in cardiac surgery. We examined the hypothesis that AVE3085, a novel compound that enhances eNOS transcription, may protect coronary endothelium against hypoxia-reoxygenation (H-R) injury during cardioplegic arrest and the possible mechanism by which this occurs.