Ischemic pre and postconditioning in skeletal muscle injury produced by ischemia and reperfusion in rats

PURPOSE: To investigate the protective effects of ischemic pre and postconditioning, as well as the association of both methods, in skeletal muscle injury produced by ischemia and reperfusion in rats. METHODS: An experimental study was designed using 40 Wistar rats divided in four groups (n=10): Control - rats submitted to ischemia for 240 minutes (min) and reperfusion for 60 min; Ischemic preconditioning (Pre) - animals submitted to three cycles of clamping and releasing the aorta for five min before being submitted to the ischemia/reperfusion procedure; Ischemic postconditioning (Post) - rat...