Myocardial preconditioning reduces kidney injury and apoptosis induced by myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion

Acute kidney injury is a common and serious complication of cardiac surgery. Because its underlying mechanisms are unclear, there is no specific therapy to prevent or treat it. A regional transient ischaemia and reperfusion (I/R) may provide protection to distant tissue or organs, a phenomenon known as remote preconditioning. In this study, we investigated whether myocardial preconditioning (MPC) would reduce kidney injury and apoptosis induced by myocardial I/R, as well as the mechanisms involved.