Tracheotomy was per- formed in guinea pigs for ventilation by a respirator (model 683, Harvard Rodent Ventilator) with a stroke volume of 15 mL/ kg body weight and at a rate of 65 strokes per minute. The left anterior descending coronary artery of the heart was ligated by 7-0 silk just proximal to its main branching point. Myocar- dial ischaemia was confirmed by a zone of cyanosis. Guinea pigs were subjected to 30 min coronary artery occlusion, and followed by 1 h reperfusion. In the thaliporphine treated group, the compound was injected twice (1 mg/kg. i.p.): first, before 15 min LPS treatment, and second, along with the surgery per- formed. In the control group, the same volume of saline was injected.
ECG was monitored using bipolar limb lead II in guinea pigs. The QTc interval was calculated as the QT interval corrected with heart rate by Bazett’s fomula (QTc = QT/(RR)1/2) (Bazett, 1920). At the end of the study, cervical dislocation was per- formed, and the hearts were collected for infarct area detection, protein analysis and cardiomyocyte isolation.