Glucose-Insulin-Potassium Does Not Reduce Myocardial Infarct Size in an Ischemic/Reperfusion Rabbit Model

While glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) has been suggested to be cardioprotective, few studies have assessed its effect on anatomic myocardial infarct size in an ischemia-reperfusion protocol. Anesthetized rabbits were subjected to a 30-minute coronary artery occlusion followed by 4 hours of reperfusion. Rabbits were pretreated with a GIK infusion lasting 90 minutes or placebo. GIK infusion markedly increased serum glucose levels by over twofold, but the area of necrosis expressed as the area at risk was not reduced by GIK infusion (25%) versus control (20%). In a rabbit infarct model of ischemia/reperfusion, GIK failed to reduce myocardial in infarct size.