Figure 1.

Monitoring microcirculatory blood flow using laser Doppler flowmetry. This figure shows a photo of a mouse with a cuff placed around the hind limb and an image showing both the color intensity scale and intensity in the limbs reflecting blood flow (A). The lower panels show cessation of blood flow during ischemia (200 mmHg cuff inflation) and hyperemia during reperfusion following cuff deflation (B and C). (D) A schematic of the experimental protocols. In summary, mice were anesthetized for 50 min and divided into control and RIPC groups. In the RIPC group, the animals were exposed to four cycles of 5 min limb ischemia followed by 5 min reperfusion. Blood flow in both limbs or ECG was monitored during this period. At the end of RIPC/control protocol, hearts were extracted and used for either metabolite extraction or for Langendorff perfusion. RIPC, remote ischemic preconditioning; ECG, electrocardiography.