Objective To elucidate the effects of postconditioning on ischaemia/reperfusion cardiac and the role of reperfusion injury salvage kinase pathway in type 2 diabetic rats.

Methods The type 2 diabetic rats were induced by the intravenous injection of streptozotocin and high caloric diet. 60 Wister rats were divided into three groups randomly. Ischaemia- reperfusion in nomal rats (A group), ischaemia postconditioning in nomal rats (B group), ischaemia postconditioning in diabetic rats (C group). Rats were used for Langendorff isolated heart perfusion with 30 min of globe ischaemia and 60 min of reperfusion, then the models of Ischaemia- reperfusion (A) were made. But to B and C, rat hearts were subjected to six cycles of 10 min of globe ischaemia and 10 min of reperfusion as ischaemia postconditioning during the early minutes of reperfusion. Phosphorylation of akt and gsk-3β were analysed by western blotting and immunohistochemical staining.

Results phospho-akt and phospho-gsk-3β expression increased markedly in B group. But compared A group there were no parently diffrence in C group. phospho-akt and phospho-gsk-3β expression in C group is more less than in B group.

Conclusion Ischemic postconditioning may significiently protect myocardium in isolated nomal rat hearts. But in diabetic rats the protection of Ischaemic postconditioning has no effect, the mechanism of this phenomina maybe connected with gsk-3β in the condition of diabetic.