Ischaemic conditioning and targeting reperfusion injury: a 30 year voyage of discovery

Abstract

To commemorate the auspicious occasion of the 30th anniversary of IPC, leading pioneers in the field of cardioprotection gathered in Barcelona in May 2016 to review and discuss the history of IPC, its evolution to IPost and RIC, myocardial reperfusion injury as a therapeutic target, and future targets and strategies for cardioprotection. This article provides an overview of the major topics discussed at this special meeting and underscores the huge importance and impact, the discovery of IPC has made in the field of cardiovascular research.

Keywords: Cardioprotection; Ischaemic conditioning; Mitochondria; Myocardial reperfusion injury; RISK and SAFE pathway.

Fig. 1

Faculty photo at the 30 year anniversary celebration of IPC in Barcelona May 2016: “Ischaemic conditioning and targeting reperfusion injury: a 30 year voyage of discovery”. Back row, left to right Michael Rahbek Schmidt, Peter Ferdinandy, Hans Erik Bøtker, Rajesh Kharbanda, Michael Marber, Pasquale Pagliaro, Thomas Engstrom, Karin Przyklenk, Tetsuji Miura, Hector A. Carbrera-Fuentes, Sandine Lecour, Derek Hausenloy, Derek Yellon, Borja Ibanez, Rainer Schulz, Gerd Heusch, Hans Michael Piper, Efstathios Iliodromitis, Miguel A Perez-Pinzon, Gemma Vilahur, Marisol Ruiz-Meana. Front row, left to right David Garcia-Dorado, Javier Inserte, Jose Barrabes, Robert Jennings, Jakob Vinten-Johansen, Andrew Redington, Michel Ovize, Fabio Di Lisa, James Downey

Fig. 2

A proposed map of some of the major signalling pathways involved in ischaemic pre- and postconditioning. The pink coloured boxes indicate pharmacological interventions that have been reported to reduce MI size when administered just prior to reperfusion. They are positioned near their proposed site of action. Figure modified from that appearing in [38]