Modulation of Programmed Forms of Cell Death by Intracoronary Levosimendan During Regional Myocardial Ischemia in Anesthetized Pigs

Purpose Powerful mediators of programmed cell death, such as apoptosis and autophagy, can contribute to myocyte cell loss during pathological cardiac conditions. Levosimendan has been shown to exert beneficial hemodynamic effects in presence of global myocardial ischemia and heart failure through vasodilatation and increase of cardiac contractility. Recently, the intracoronary administration of a bolus levosimendan was found to exert favourable cardiac anti-stunning effects without lowering arterial pressure, which limits the use of levosimendan mainly in coronary artery disease. Here we tested whether the intracoronary administration of levosimendan can beneficially modulate programmed cell death in acute regional myocardial ischemia.