REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Cardiovascular and Smooth Muscle Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1693441
The Unmet Promise: A Critical Review of Antioxidant Strategies in Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and the Path Towards Precision Medicine
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
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Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) remains a major clinical challenge, with oxidative stress as a key driver. Despite extensive preclinical promise, antioxidant therapies have consistently failed in clinical translation. This critical review deconstructs this translational gap, which stems from the nuanced complexity of redox biology, inappropriate therapeutic timing, and patient heterogeneity. We argue that overcoming these hurdles requires a paradigm shift from broad antioxidant supplementation to precision medicine. This approach involves enhancing endogenous defense mechanisms, leveraging targeted drug delivery, and developing multi-modal strategies. Ultimately, integrating dynamic biomarkers, multi-omics, and artificial intelligence to tailor treatments to individual patient profiles holds the key to finally fulfilling the promise of effectively managing MIRI.
Keywords: Myocardial Ischemia, Oxidative Stress, ischemia-reperfusion injury, endogenous antioxidant defense, Translational challenges, redox signaling, therapeutic strategies, precision medicine
Received: 27 Aug 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Tang, Ren and Wenbin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hao Chen, banxia@stu.cdutcm.edu.cn
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.