Regulatory T cells (Treg) has been documented to be protective against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI). The administration of drugs which recruit Treg cells may participate in the cardioprotection of MIRI. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the add-on vildagliptin (vild) to standard treatment of MIRI prior to reperfusion could increase Treg recruitment, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects of the standard treatment or not. Sixty diabetic patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were randomly divided into two equal groups: control group was given the standard medical treatment and vild group was given the standard medical treatment plus vild. There were no statistical differences between the mean of percentage of changes in nitric oxide, ischemia modified albumin, highly sensitive C reactive protein, and interferon-gamma levels in the studied groups. While, the percentages of changes of myeloperoxidase level, CD4+CD25+ Treg cells count, and transforming growth factor-beta1 level were significantly higher in vild group compared with control group. We concluded that addition of vild to standard medical treatment of MIRI could increase its effectiveness through recruitment of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells.
Keywords: Myocardial ischemia–reperfusion injury; Treg cells; vildagliptin.