• Wei Z Wang, Xin-Hua Fang, Linda L Stephenson, Kayvan T Khiabani, and William A Zamboni.
• Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, NV 89102, USA. wzwang2000@yahoo.com
• Microsurgery. 2007 Jan 1; 27 (3): 200-5.

PurposeTo determine whether the supplementation of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4), an essential cofactor of nitric oxide synthase; NOS) could attenuate endothelial dysfunction and improve NOS activity and cell viability in skeletal muscle after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R).MethodsA vascular pedicle isolated rat cremaster muscle model was used. Cremaster muscles were subjected to 4 h of ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Rats were given either normal saline or BH(4) by intravenous injection at 1 min prior to reperfusion. After reperfusion, average arteriole diameter, capillary perfusion, endothelial-dependent/-independent vasodilatation, NOS activity, and muscle cell viability were evaluated.ResultsSupplementation of BH(4) prior to reperfusion significantly attenuated reperfusion-induced vasoconstriction, poor capillary perfusion, and endothelial dysfunction and enhanced cNOS activity and slightly improved cell viability in the skeletal muscle after I/R.ConclusionSupplementation of BH(4) during reperfusion provided a significant protection against I/R injury in rat skeletal muscle.(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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