Bradykinin does not mediate remote ischaemic preconditioning or ischaemia-reperfusion injury in vivo in man

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Bradykinin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To examine whether endogenous bradykinin mediates the endothelium-dependent vasomotor dysfunction induced by ischaemia-reperfusion injury, or the protection afforded by remote ischaemic preconditioning in vivo in man.

Who Took Part

The study group was 20 subjects.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, men only.

Ischaemia-reperfusion injury was induced in the non-dominant arm by inflating a cuff to 200 mm Hg for 20 min in all subjects.

Ischaemia-reperfusion injury was preceded by three cycles of remote ischaemic preconditioning in the dominant arm in 10 subjects.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

The subjects were allocated by chance, so the Bradykinin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Bradykinin.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of Bradykinin, giving a reference point.

Each person switched between Bradykinin and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Acetylcholine, Adrenergic beta-Antagonists, Bradykinin, Bradykinin Receptor Antagonists, Endothelium, Vascular, Forearm and Hemodynamics.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Bradykinin in 20 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2011 (Heart (British Cardiac Society)), a journal based in England.

More context: the Bradykinin compound page, all human trials.