Preconditioning of the ischaemic myocardium; involvement of the l‐arginine nitric oxide pathway

Mongrel, chloralose-urethane anaesthetized open-chest dogs within a restricted body weight range

NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) 10 mg kg-1 intravenously given before initial preconditioning (two 5 min periods of occlusion of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery) and before prolonged (25 min) occlusion

Preconditioned dogs not given L-NAME, and control dogs not subjected to preconditioning

Incidence and severity of early ischemic arrhythmias (ventricular premature beats, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia) during prolonged ischemia and reperfusionsurrogate