Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is currently the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world, and is set to become the leading cause of death in the world by the year 2020, according to the World Health Organisation. Patients with severe IHD that require coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, although protected by techniques such as cross-clamp fibrillation and cardioplegia, still sustain significant myocardial injury as evidenced by perioperative troponin T or I or CK-MB release. Novel treatment strategies are required to limit the myocardial injury sustained by patients undergoing CABG surgery in order to improve the clinical outcomes of this patient group.