Background-We previously reported that the functional mutation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in C3H/HeJ mice subjected to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury resulted in an attenuation of myocardial infarction size. To investigate the ligand-activating TLR4 during MI/R injury, we evaluated the effect of eritoran, a specific TLR4 antagonist, on MI/R injury, with the goal of defining better therapeutic options for MI/R injury. Methods and Results-C57BL/6 mice received eritoran (5 mg/kg) intravenously 10 minutes before 30 minutes of in situ of transient occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion. Infarct size was measured using triphenyltetrazoliumchloride staining. A c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase (JNK) activation was determined by Western blotting, nuclear factor (NF)-B activity was detected by gel-shift assay, and cytokine expression was measured by ribonuclease protection assay.

Our data suggest that toll-like receptor 4 may mediate, at least in part, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Inhibition of toll-like receptor 4 activation may be a potential therapeutic target to attenuate ischemia/reperfusion-induced tissue damage in the clinical setting.

man. HSP70.1 and -70.3 are required for late-phase protection induced by ischemic preconditioning of mouse hearts.

Single-incision laparoscopic pyloromyotomy is a safe and feasible procedure with good postoperative results and excellent cosmesis. The main challenge is the spatial orientation of the instruments and endoscope in a small working space. This can be overcome by a more longitudinally oriented working axis than used in the conventional angulated laparoscopic configuration.