Fig. 1.

Effect of hypoxic and ischemic preconditioning (HPC/IPC) on molecular mechanisms. HPC and IPC beneficially upregulate or downregulate different cellular processes that confer endogenous protection in various organ systems. HPC and IPC both depress cerebral metabolism and energy demand by, for example, decreasing ATPase activity and protein synthesis. On the other hand, HPC and IPC increase neuroprotective mediators, such as VEGF and EPO, HIF and its targets (e.g. hypoxic response elements), and promote mitochondrial function. HPC and IPC have a multitude of beneficial neuroprotective effects on intercellular signaling, excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, apoptosis pathways and siRNAs.