Cardioprotection of sevoflurane postconditioning by activating extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 in isolated rat hearts

Aim: The activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 protects against ischemic–reperfusion injury. Whether ERK1/2 mediates the cardioprotection of sevoflurane postconditioning is unknown. We tested whether sevoflurane postconditioning produces cardioprotection via an ERK1/2-dependent mechanism. Methods: In protocol 1, Langendorff-perfused Sprague–Dawley rat hearts (n=84, 12 per group), with the exception of the Sham group, were subjected to 30 min ischemia followed by 90 min reperfusion and were assigned to the untreated (control) group, followed by 4 cycles of ischemic postconditioning (25 s of each), 3% ( v/v ) sevoflurane postconditioning (for 5 min and 10 min of washout), and the PD98059 solvent DMSO ( Results: No differences in baseline hemodynamics were observed among the experimental groups (P>0.05). After reperfusion, compared with the control group, sevoflurane postconditioning and ischemic postconditioning significantly (P Conclusion: Anesthetic postconditioning by sevoflurane effectively protects against reperfusion damage by activating ERK1/2 in vitro .