In acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation (STEMI), lethal reperfusion injury of the myocardium, caused by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), represents additional and irreversible damage due to ischemic heart muscle reperfusion that contributes to the final size of the infarct zone by up to 50%. The size of the infarcted area is the major determinant for the long-term prognosis and heart failure progression in patients with STEMI. Cardioprotection from ischemic - reperfusion myocardial injury (MIRI) can be regulated by its own innate physiological adaptive mechanisms like intermittent hypoxia achieved by the method of conditioning that includes short sublethal ischemic and reperfusion episodes.~The known natural clinical equivalent of intermittent hypoxia and the starting point in understanding the underlying mechanism is angina pectoris (AP).~Intermittent hypoxia is a protective mechanism against heart ischemic-reperfusion injury with reduced tissue damage and consequently better outcome in patients with STEMI. For the purpose of this work, a cardioprotective pattern was defined that includes immunometabolic factors as parameters for assessing the state of intermittent hypoxia on which the success of the application of the method of remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is based.
The aim of this study is to characterize the protective pattern of intermittent hypoxia, angina pectoris and remote ischemic conditioning, in reperfusion injury by determining and monitoring the plasma immunometabolic parameters of patients with STEMI. This could contribute to better understanding of this phenotypic pattern with translation into clinical practice.