Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C1511530
NCI: Myocardial infarction damages heart tissue both during the initial ischemia and the subsequent reperfusion of tissues with oxygen. Corticosteroids can protect cardiac tissue from damage following a heart attack, but the mechanisms by which corticosteroids are cardioprotective have not been clear and negative side effects such as reduced wound healing may result from their use. Corticosteroids exert a variety of actions through binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a member of the steroid hormone receptor gene family. GR acts as a ligand-dependent transcription factor, but some of the cardioprotective effects mediated by GR-bound corticosteroids are non-transcriptional in nature. Glucocorticoids are commonly used as anti-inflammatory drugs in a variety of conditions, and some of their effects in the heart result from inhibition of the inflammatory response of heart tissue to ischemia and reperfusion. NF-kB is a transcription factor involved in signaling by inflammatory factors such as TNF, and is r