Protective effects of ischemic postconditioning on skeletal muscle following crush syndrome in the rat

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of ischemic postconditioning (IPostC) on skeletal muscle and its optimal protocol. METHODS: This article is about an animal study of rat model of crush syndrome. Sixty rats were randomized into nine different IPostC intervention groups and a control group. The anesthetized rats were subjected to unilateral hindlimb 3-kg compression with a compression device for 6 h, followed by nine different IPostC intervention protocols. RESULTS: Serum levels of creatine kinase (CK) at 3 h post-crush became 2.3-3.9 times among all 10 groups after crush. At 72 h post-crush, serum CK level was reduced to 0.28-0.53 time in all intervention groups. The creatinine (CREA) level in the control group was elevated to 3.11 times at 3 h post-crush and reduced to1.77 time at 72 h post-crush. The potassium (K+) level in the control group was elevated to 1.65 and 1.41 time at 3 and 72 h post-crush, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our IPostC intervention protocols can effectively protect rats from crush-induced elevation of serum CK, CREA, and K+ levels. The timing of IPostC intervention should be as early as possible, to ensure the protective effect.