title: Calcium administration increases the mortality of endotoxic shock in rats.
abstract: Calcium chloride is administered frequently to critically ill patients to improve cardiac output and BP. However, Ca has been implicated in the pathophysiology of shock and ischemic disorders. To test the hypothesis that Ca may be deleterious to shock outcome, we studied the effects of CaCl and Ca chelator (EGTA) infusions on mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to endotoxin and 24-h survival in rats. Increasing ionized Ca from 4.1 +/- 0.06 to 4.9 +/- 0.20 and 8.5 +/- 0.52 mg/dl progressively increased endotoxin lethality from 20% to 37% and 80%, respectively. This occurred despite slight improvements in MAP in hypercalcemic rats. Conversely, hypocalcemia (3.6 +/- 0.08 mg/dl) lowered endotoxin-induced mortality to 0 without significant effects on MAP. Ca and EGTA infusions alone were not associated with any mortality. Although Ca administration may improve MAP, it significantly increases mortality associated with endotoxic shock in rats. Based on these observations, we advise caution when using Ca in patients with sepsis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814-4799.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Malcolm
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Zaloga
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Holaday
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002122:Calcium Chloride / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D004533:Egtazic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006934:Hypercalcemia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*
chemical_list: D004533:Egtazic Acid; D002122:Calcium Chloride