Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery is increasing in popularity worldwide. However, very little is known about the effect of regional myocardial ischemia-reperfusion on nitric oxide release. In an animal model mimicking off-pump bypass, male Sprague-Dawley rats (350-450 g) were mechanically ventilated under general anesthesia. After left lateral thoracotomy, the animals underwent occlusion of either the left anterior descending artery (for 3, 5, 75, 10, 12.5, 15, or 20 minutes) or the circumflex artery (for 5, 10, or 15 minutes). Twenty-four hours after reperfusion, heart tissue was stained for determination of the area at risk and the infarcted area. Blood samples obtained before ischemia, 10 minutes after reperfusion, and 24 hours after reperfusion were analyzed for plasma concentrations of nitric oxide. After occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, the size of the infarcted area increased dramatically as the duration of occlusion increased, and was significantly larger after 12.5, 15, or 20 minutes of occlusion than after 3 minutes. After occlusion of the circumflex artery, the size of the infarcted area increased steadily and was significantly larger after 15 minutes of occlusion than after 5 minutes. There was no significant correlation between the duration of coronary occlusion and the plasma concentration of nitric oxide: 10 minutes after reperfusion, this concentration was significantly lower than that before ischemia, but it was twice the baseline level 24 hours after reperfusion. We concluded that the duration of regional ischemia did not affect the plasma concentration of nitric oxide in the systemic circulation.