Ischemia reperfusion injury may be attenuated by HO-1 induction. Heme arginate showed protective effects during prolonged ischemia in animal studies. The investigators previous data confirmed strong HO-1 induction following heme arginate infusion in healthy humans. Therefore, the investigators next approach is to evaluate the direct effects of heme arginate on short time Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in healthy humans. This will be done by the following surrogate markers of IR injury.~Functional blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can measure alterations in tissue oxygenation in a high spatial and temporal resolution. This non-invasive methods therefore represent a promising technique to evaluate the effects of HO-1 induction on energy metabolism and oxygen saturation during ischemic stress and short time reperfusion in skeletal muscle.~As additional outcome, levels of myoglobin and creatine-kinase will be measured in plasma according to standard laboratory procedures.
Ischemia reperfusion injury may be attenuated by HO-1 induction. Heme arginate showed protective effects during prolonged ischemia in animal studies. Functional blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shall evaluate the effects of HO-1 induction during short-time ischemia in skeletal muscle of healthy subjects.