Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury leads to structural changes in the heart muscle later followed by functional decline due to progressive fibrous replacement. Hence approaches to minimize IR injury are devised, including ischemic pre-and postconditioning. Mild uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation is one of the mechanisms suggested to be cardioprotective as chemical uncoupling mimics ischemic preconditioning. Uncoupling protein 2 is proposed to be the physiological counterpart of chemical uncouplers and is thought to be a part of the protective machinery of cardiomyocytes. Morphological changes in the mitochondrial network likely accompany the uncoupling with mitochondrial fission dampening the signals leading to cardiomyocyte death. Here we review recent data on the role of uncoupling in cardioprotection and propose that low concentrations of dietary polyphenols may elicit the same cardioprotective effect as dinitrophenol and FCCP, perhaps accounting for the famed "French paradox".

• MeSH
• Cell Death drug effects   MeSH
• Dinitrophenols therapeutic use   MeSH
• Phenols therapeutic use   MeSH
• Flavonoids therapeutic use   MeSH
• Ion Channels metabolism   MeSH
• Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial MeSH
• Carbonyl Cyanide p-Trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone therapeutic use   MeSH
• Myocytes, Cardiac metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Cardiotonic Agents therapeutic use   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Mitochondrial Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Myocardium metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Oxidative Phosphorylation * MeSH
• Polyphenols MeSH
• Myocardial Reperfusion Injury drug therapy   metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Uncoupling Agents therapeutic use   MeSH
• Signal Transduction drug effects   MeSH
• Uncoupling Protein 2 MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Dinitrophenols MeSH
• Phenols MeSH
• Flavonoids MeSH
• Ion Channels MeSH
• Carbonyl Cyanide p-Trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone MeSH
• Cardiotonic Agents MeSH
• Mitochondrial Proteins MeSH
• Polyphenols MeSH
• Uncoupling Agents MeSH
• UCP2 protein, human MeSH Browser
• Uncoupling Protein 2 MeSH