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CARDIAC PHARMACOLOGY OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE AND ITS POSTULATED RELEVANCE TO ORGAN PRESERVATION IN ISCHEMIC OR HYPOXIC STATES
Author(s) -
Shlafer Marshal
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1983.tb47299.x
Subject(s) - dimethyl sulfoxide , relevance (law) , pharmacology , medicine , chemistry , law , political science , organic chemistry
: This paper first briefly summarizes the major pharmacological effects of DMSO on the normal mammalian myocardium, considering their possible implications to human medicine and cardiac ischemic states in particular, but also suggesting that although these effects are intrinsically interesting and demonstrate the diverse actions of this drug, they may be of little utility in currently encountered clinical situations. Evidence will then be presented to support the concept that an important component of ischemic injury to the heart and possibly to other ischemic organs is generation of oxygen radicals, including the hydroxyl radical. A proposal will then be made that the hydroxyl radical-scavenging ability of DMSO, combined with its ability to permeate cells readily, may confer upon the drug a unique and important adjunctive role for preventing this aspect of cell death in some clinical settings of ischemia.