Fig. 1

Schematic showing study protocol. a (1) Sham animals were anesthetized for 40 min prior to blood draw. (2) Remote ischemic preconditioning (rIPC) (four cycles of transient limb ischemia, black boxes, 5 min; and reperfusion white boxes, 5 min) was performed prior to blood draw. (3) Electroacupuncture (EA) was applied bilaterally at the Neiguan point for 60 min prior to blood draw. b Overview of the Langendorff protocol. After stabilization, each heart randomized to be perfused with previously prepared dialysate from one of the groups described above, followed by 30 min of global ischemia and 120 min of reperfusion. At the end of the protocol the heart was assessed for infarct size by TTC staining (see text for details)