Affiliations: [a]
German Sport University Cologne, Department of Molecular and Cellular Sport Medicine, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, Cologne, Germany
| [b]
German Sport University Cologne, The German Research Center of Elite Sport (momentum), Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, Cologne, Germany
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Dr. Marijke Grau, German Sport University Cologne, Department of Molecular and Cellular Sport Medicine, Am Sportpark Müngerdorf 6, 50933 Cologne, Germany. Tel.: +49 0 221 4982 6116; Fax: +49 0 221 4982 8370; E-mail: m.grau@dshs-koeln.de.
Abstract: Remote ischemia preconditioning (rIPC), short cycles of ischemia (I) and reperfusion (R) of a region remote from the heart, protects against myocardial I/R injury. This effect is triggered by endothelial derived nitric oxide (NO) production. Red blood cells (RBC) are also capable of NO production and it is hypothesized that the beneficial effect of rIPC in terms of cardioprotection is strengthened by increased RBC dependent NO production and improved RBC function after rIPC maneuver. For this purpose, twenty male participants were subjected to four cycles of no-flow ischemia with subsequent reactive hyperemia within the forearm. Blood sampling and measurement of blood pressures and heart rate were carried out pre intervention, after each cycle and 15 min post intervention at both the non-treated and treated arm. These are the first results that show improved RBC deformability in the treated arm after rIPC cycles 1– 4 caused by significantly increased RBC-NO synthase activation. This in turn was associated to increased NO production in both arms after rIPC cycles 3 + 4. Also, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were decreased after rIPC. The findings lead to the conclusion that the cardioprotective effects associated with rIPC include improvement of the RBC-NOS/NO signaling in RBC.
