Clinical effects of cyclosporine A on reperfusion injury in myocardial infarction: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Reperfusion therapy is the most crucial strategy for rescuing ischemic myocardium and reducing infarction size. Cyclosporine A (CsA) can protect against reperfusion-induced myocardial necrosis. However, the clinical effects of CsA on myocardial infarction (MI) remain uncertain. This study investigated the effects of CsA on reperfusion injury (RI) in MI. We searched for and included articles regarding randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of CsA in patients with MI from PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases for an analysis. We then performed quality assessment, subgroup, sensitivity, and publication bias analyses. Of the 277 potentially relevant articles retrieved from the databases, only five were eligible for our meta-analysis. Compared with the placebos used in these studies, CsA did not reduce all-cause mortality [rate ratio (RR) 1.10, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.75–1.61; P = 0.533; I(2) = 0 %) or adverse clinical events (RR 1.0, 95 % CI 0.89–1.13; P = 0.381; I(2) = 6.5 %). In the CsA treatment groups, improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (weighted mean difference = 1.91; 95 % CI 0.89, 2.92; P = 0.064) and reduction in MI size (standard mean difference = −0.41, 95 % CI −0.84 to 0.02; P = 0.519; I(2) = 0.0 %) were minimal. The current meta-analysis indicates that CsA treatment does not reduce all-cause mortality and adverse clinical events in MI and that CsA may not have significant clinical effects on RI in MI.