and F. Niroomand. Reduction of myocardial infarct size

ajpheart.00782.2002.—Statins have a variety of cardiopro-tective properties following chronic treatment. In contrast, little is known about the acute effects. Reperfusion acutely injures the heart by activation of neutrophils as well as endothelial cells. Because statins are known to influence the processes pathogenetically involved, we hypothesized that acute application of statins attenuates the sequelae of car-diac reperfusion. In rats, myocardial infarction (MI) was induced by ligature of the left coronary artery followed by reperfusion. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was determined by H2 clearance and regional myocardial function (fractional thickening, FT) by pulsed Doppler. MI size was measured by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, neutrophil ex-travasation by determination of myeloperoxidase (MPO) ac-tivity, and nitric oxide generation via measurement of cGMP