Diabetic patients are at elevated risk for low cardiac output syndrome. This high risk scenario adversely affects up to 26% of patients recovering from cardiac surgery. Aggressive hemodynamic treatments are required, but can prove inadequate. Low cardiac output syndrome can quadruple the overall mortality rate for aortocoronary bypass surgery from 2% to 8%. Therefore, an urgent need exists for effective forms of preemptive cardioprotection and antioxidant protection may play a crucial role. Our research into the therapeutic potential of propofol, an intravenous anesthetic with antioxidant properties, could have significant impact on outcome in this select population. The proposed study represents a novel therapeutic approach for the prevention of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.