Fig. 1.

Effect of thiopental on survival of hypoxia-reoxygenated cardiomyocytes. (A) Relative cell viability of hypoxia-reoxygenated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes pretreated with various concentrations of thiopental (0.1 - 500 µM). Cardiomyocytes were plated in triplicate wells in 96-well plates at a density of 1×10⁴ per well, and pretreated with various concentrations of thiopental. Then, cardiomyocytes were subjected to a hypoxic chamber for 1 hour following reoxygenation for 5 hours. Cell viability was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. (B) Western blot analysis of phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK). Each signal was quantified by scanning densitometry. Data presented as mean ± S.E.M. above 2-3 replicate measurements in 3 cell cultures (n = 7). Control: normal cardiomyocytes. H/R: hypoxia-reoxygenated cardiomyocytes. ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01.