**1. Introduction**

Restoration of perfusion and reoxygenation of ischemic tissues restores aerobic metabo‐ lism and supports postischemic functional recovery but also generates significant dam‐ age related to the ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) phenomenon. At the level of a blood vessel, lesions of I/R are mainly characterized by the perturbation of vasomotion and endothe‐ lial dysfunction. Moreover, despite the fact that ischemia occurs in a sterile environment, reperfusion induces a significant activation of innate and adaptive immune responses: massive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production; activation of pattern-recognition re‐ ceptors or toll-like receptors (TLRs); activation of complement, coagulation, cytokine and chemokine production; and inflammatory cell trafficking into the diseased organ.1 I/R ac‐ tivates different programs of cell death (necrosis, apoptosis or autophagy-associated cell death) and generates a systemic inflammatory response that lasts several days and that can lead, in some cases, to multi-organ failure and death. [2-4]
