摘要Background Ischemic postconditioning (I-postC) is a newly discovered and more amenable cardioprotective strategy capable of protecting the myocardium from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a principal site for secretary protein synthesis and calcium storage.Myocardial I/R causes ER stress and emerging studies suggest that the cardioprotection has been linked to the modulation of ER stress.The aim of the present study was to determine whether cardioprotection of I-postC involves reduction in ER stress through calcineurin pathway.Methods In the in vivo model of rat myocardial I/R,myocardial infarct size was measured by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and apoptosis was detected using terminal eoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay.Expression of calreticulin,C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP),caspase-12,and activation of caspase-12 in myocardium were detected by Western blotting.The activity and expression of calcineurin in myocardium were also detected.Results I-postC protected the I/R heart against apoptosis,myocardial infarction,and leakage of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB).I-postC suppressed I/R-induced ER stress,as shown by a decrease in the expression of calreticulin and CHOP,and caspase-12 activation.I-postC downregulated calcineurin activation in myocardium subjected to I/R.Conclusion I-postC protects myocardium from I/R injury by suppressing ER stress and calcineurin pathways are not associated with the I-postC-induced suppression of ER stress-related apoptosis.