It has been discovered that isolated organs and tissues perfused/reperfused in perfusion buffer to which omega-3 glyceride oil had been added retain higher levels of function than if perfused/reperfused without the omega-3 glycerides. Isolated hearts reperfused ex vivo after induced ischemia in n-3 triglyceride perfusion emulsion maintained a normal heart rate and normal LVDP and showed a dramatically reduced frequency of arrhythmias compared to control hearts. Further, test hearts reperfused with n-3 oil triglyceride emulsion showed a decrease in creatine kinase and upregulation of certain beneficial proteins including the anti-apoptotic gene marker Bcl-2.
