Rotigaptide in Endothelial Dysfunction?

Arterial occlusion can lead to tissue ischemia and, if prolonged, end organ infarction. Clinical and experimental data would suggest that restoration of blood flow might trigger additional injury beyond that induced by the ischemia alone, so called Ischemia Reperfusion (IR) injury. IR injury impairs endothelial function through a mechanism that may involve intercellular gap junctions. Rotigaptide (ZP-123) is an anti-arrhythmic drug promoting intercellular coupling by increasing gap junction conductance. We intend to test the hypothesis that rotigaptide protects the forearm arterial circulation from IR-induced endothelial dysfunction.