When ischaemic insult results in minimally lethal injuries, preconditioned hearts do not have the advantage of not being prone to stunning rather than non-preconditioned. If ischaemic insult is potentially able to produce extensive infarction, improvement in post-ischaemic myocardial function is mainly due to infarct size limitation evoked by preconditioning.

The aim of the present study was to clarify whether pharmacological preconditioning with dopamine protects the heart against ischemia and whether this effect is mediated through dopaminergic receptors (D1 and D2) or alpha1-adrenoceptors. Isolated perfused rat hearts were either non-preconditioned, preconditioned with 5 min ischemia, or treated for 5 min with dopamine (1, 5 or 10 microM) before being subjected to 45 min of sustained ischemia followed by 60 min reperfusion. Postischemic functional recovery and infarct size were used as indices of the effects of ischemia. Treatment with the lower concentration of dopamine (1 microM), did not provide any protection to the ischemic myocardium. On the other hand, treatment with 5 microM dopamine resulted in significantly improved functional recovery, whereas administration of dopamine (10 microM) resulted in significantly improved functional recovery as well as reduction of infarct size. Pretreatment with the mixed D1/D2 dopaminergic receptor antagonist haloperidol or the beta-adrenoceptor selective antagonist propranolol did not attenuate the protective effect of pharmacological preconditioning with 10 microM dopamine with respect to both functional recovery and infarct size reduction. On the other hand, the cardioprotective effect of dopamine was blocked when the alpha1-adrenoceptor selective antagonist, prazosin, was administered. In conclusion, pharmacological preconditioning with dopamine protects the myocardium against ischemia and this effect seems to be mediated through activation of alpha1-adrenoceptors.

Background: Bibliometric analysis is an effective method for measuring scientific contributions in a variety of fields. It enables the numerical analysis of publications in a specific field and period of time, as well as the relationships between these publications. The present bibliometric analysis of publications relating to obesity treatment by means of intragastric balloons aimed to identify the bariatric centers using intragastric balloons, through the publications relating to their productivity; and furthermore, to reveal collaborations, types of balloons used, number of patients involved and authors’ productivity and favored journals.Method: The PubMed and Scopus database were used to retrieve only original articles presenting the results in body weight reduction.Results: Bibliographic research identified 164 publications for the period 2000-2021. Italy was ranked first with 37 publications; USA participated as collaborator with 9 different countries; the fluid-filled Orbera balloon is featured in 126 publications; the journal Obesity Surgery hosted 86 publications; Brazil reported the greatest number of patients with 5874 cases; Lorenzo M, and Genco A, co-authors from Italy, authored 14 and 12 publications, respectively, and the most cited article was that of Genco et al [2007] with 441 citations.Conclusions: Bibliometric analysis gave us the opportunity to identify the centers through their scientific publications and to classify them in relation to their productivity in articles, in collaborations, in number of cases reported and in the number of citations gained.

Background: Bibliometric analysis is an effective method for measuring scienti c contributions in a variety of elds. It enables the numerical analysis of publications in a speci c eld and period of time, as well as the relationships between these publications. The present bibliometric analysis of publications relating to obesity treatment by means of intragastric balloons aimed to identify the bariatric centers using intragastric balloons, through the publications relating to their productivity; and furthermore, to reveal collaborations, types of balloons used, number of patients involved and authors' productivity and favored journals.Method: The PubMed and Scopus database were used to retrieve only original articles presenting the results in body weight reduction.Results: Bibliographic research identi ed 164 publications for the period 2000-2021. Italy was ranked rst with 37 publications; USA participated as collaborator with 9 different countries; the uid-lled Orbera balloon is featured in 126 publications; the journal Obesity Surgery hosted 86 publications; Brazil reported the greatest number of patients with 5874 cases; Lorenzo M, and Genco A, co-authors from Italy, authored 14 and 12 publications, respectively, and the most cited article was that of Genco et al [2007] with 441 citations.Conclusions: Bibliometric analysis gave us the opportunity to identify the centers through their scienti c publications and to classify them in relation to their productivity in articles, in collaborations, in number of cases reported and in the number of citations gained.