Fig. 1.

Simulated ischemia-reperfusion (SI-R) injury is increased significantly in methylglyoxal (MG)-precultured cardiomyocytes, as measured by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release (A), apoptotic index by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL)-positive staining cells (B), and caspase-3 activity (C). D: MG preculture results in cardiomyocyte glycation prior to being subjected to SI-R, as measured by total advanced glycation end product (AGE) content; n = 6 independent experiments. **P < 0.01 vs. Sham SI-R; ##P < 0.01 vs. vehicle + SI-R. AFC, 7-amino-4-trifluoromethyl-coumarin.