Title:Flavonols and Flavones – Protecting Against Myocardial Ischemia/ Reperfusion Injury by Targeting Protein Kinases
Volume: 25
Issue: 34
Author(s): Owen L. Woodman*, Kai Yee Chin, Colleen J. Thomas, Dominic C.H. Ng and Clive N. May
Affiliation:
- School of Health & Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria,Australia
Keywords:
Antioxidant, cardioprotection, ischemia-reperfusion, reactive oxygen species, flavone, flavonol, kinase.
Abstract: In acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the first line of treatment is to rapidly restore
blood flow to the ischemic myocardium to limit infarct size. It is now well established that
though clearly beneficial, the positive outcomes of this intervention are limited by injury in
response to the reperfusion itself in addition to the prior ischemia. This process is described as
reperfusion injury and is considered to contribute to the arrhythmias, microvascular dysfunction
and impaired cardiac contractility that is observed even after the restoration of coronary
blood flow. Thus an important, currently unmet, therapeutic challenge is to address the outcomes
of this reperfusion injury. In this article, we review the evidence that flavonols and flavones
may prove useful in preserving cardiac function after ischemia and reperfusion and consider
the possible mechanisms, in particular, the inhibition of kinases, by which they may exert
protection.
