Objective To investigate the effect of desflurane post-processing on the expression of glucose transporter 4 (GIUT4)in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.Methods Twenty-four male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups (n =6 each):normal control group (group NC),ischemic-reperfusion group (group IR),ischemic-reperfusion postconditioning group (group IRP),desflurane aftertreatment group (group Des).Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion model was established by ligating the left coronary artery.Plasma glucose,Insulin and myocardial glucose uptake rate were measured at the time point before ischemia (T0),30 min after ischemia (T1),30 min (T2),60 min (T3) and 120 min (T4) after reperfusion,for dynamic comparison;the expression of GLUT4 mRNA in myocardium was detected by quantitative RT-PCR,and GLUT4 protein was detected by Western blot.Results Compared with group NC,the levels of blood glucose at T2-T4 increased in group IR (P＜0.05),but blood glucose in group Des was significantly lower than that in groups IR and IRP at T2-T4 (P＜0.05).Compared with group NC,serum insulin levels in groups IR,IRP and Des were significantly higher at T1-T3 (P＜0.05).The level of serum insulin in groups IRP and Des at T1 and T2 was significantly higher than that in group IR (P＜0.05),while that in group Des was higher than that in group IRP (P＜0.05).Blood glucose uptake rate in group IR at T2-T4 was significantly lower than that in groups NC,IRP and Des (P＜0.05),while the blood glucose uptake rate was higher in group Des than that in group IRP (P＜0.05).compared with group NC,the expression of GLUT4 mRNA and protein in groups IR,IRP and Des decreased (P＜0.05),but compared with groups IR and IRP,GLUT4 mRNA and protein expression increased in group Des (P＜0.05).Conclusion Postconditioning of desflurane can improve myocardial ischemia-reperfusion insulin resistance and increase myocardial glucose uptake,which may be related to the increase of myocardial GLUT4 expression.