Potential protective effects of fermented garlic extract on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury utilizing in vitro and ex vivo models

In this study, we investigated the cardioprotective effects of fermented garlic extract (FGE) against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in H9c2 cells and myocardium. FGE used in this study is rich in nitrite (1.42 mg/ml of FGE) and reduced glutathione (GSH, 3.23 mg/ml of FGE). We compared the effectiveness of FGE against HR-induced oxidative stress with that of nitrite, GSH, and a mixture of nitrite and GSH (nitrite + GSH). In addition, we utilized fluorinated xerogel-derived oxygen microsensors to measure the changes in oxygen level (pO2) of the myocardium during myocardial IR by FGE. As a result, the pO2 in the FGE group restored to pre-ischemic level (75.1 ± 36.9%) at reperfusion period; however, that of the control group did not increase throughout reperfusion period (2.0 ± 1.7%, p < 0.05). Therefore, pre-treatment with FGE might be helpful as a therapeutic strategy for preventing H9c2 cells and myocardium from IR injury.