European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2006
Effect of tetrahydrobiopterin on selective endothelial dysfunction of epicardial porcine coronary arteries induced by cardiopulmonary bypass.
We hypothesized that cardiopulmonary bypass induces a selective alteration of the coronary arterial endothelial cell signal transduction which could be explained by a state of depletion and/or decreased activity of endogenous tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)). The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass and BH(4) on the endothelial function of epicardial coronary arteries in a swine model of cardiopulmonary bypass. ⋯ Treatment with BH(4) improves the endothelial dysfunction of porcine epicardial coronary arteries, restores nitric oxide availability and reduces the oxidative stress associated with cardiopulmonary bypass.