Based on “Practical guidelines for Rigor and Repeatability in Preclinical and clinical studies of cardiac protection” (Botker et al., 2018 (link)), the study was conducted in adult male SD rats aged 8–12 weeks weighing 250–300 g. The experimental protocols of the animals involved in this study were approved by the Laboratory Animal Research Committee of Soochow University. Rats were kept in pathogen-free, temperature-controlled environments (20°C–25°C) and specific facilities with 12-h light/dark cycles, with a maximum of six per cage and free feeding on conventional laboratory animal feed. The rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 5 per group): Sham group (saline + sham operation), I/R group (saline + I/R); Dapa group (dapagliflozin 10 mg/kg/day + I/R). DAPA or saline was intragastrically administered once daily for 5 days. On the sixth day, the rats underwent myocardial ischemia for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 2 h. Briefly, adult male SD rats were anesthetized with 50 mg/kg sodium pentobarbital and placed in the supine position on a 37°C heating pad. During the experiment, a standard limb II lead electrocardiogram was performed continuously. The tracheal incision was intubated, and mechanical ventilation was connected with a ventilator. After the left thoracic incision, 6-0 silk thread was sutured at the root of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery (LAD), positioned 2 mm below the intersection of the left atrial appendage and arterial conus, and a slip-knot was made. After 30 min of ischemia, the knot was released, and reperfusion was performed for 2 h. In the sham group, the same thoracotomy was performed without ligating the coronary arteries. The animals were then sacrificed for subsequent experiments.
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