Z-VAD reduces apoptosis following prolonged ischemia followed by reperfusion.

Mouse hind limb was subjected to 90 minutes of ischemia by aortic cross-clamping followed by 3 hours of reperfusion. TUNEL-positive nuclei per total nuclei in a field were counted in endothelial cells (solid), skeletal muscle fiber cells (hatched), and smooth muscle cells (open) in animals pretreated with z-VAD (5 μg/g body weight) or DMSO (0.1 μL/g body weight). Values represent means ± SEM. *P < .05 vs DMSO.