title: Effect of allopurinol and dimethylsulfoxide on long-term survival in rats after cardiorespiratory arrest and resuscitation.
abstract: The effects of allopurinol and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) upon reperfusion injury were tested in separate studies that utilized a rat model of cardiorespiratory arrest and resuscitation. The rats were subjected to 7 minutes of arrest followed by resuscitation, and then were alternately assigned to either a drug-treated group or a vehicle-treated group (n = 22 for all groups). Drug treatment was given after the return of spontaneous circulation, and survival was monitored for a ten-day period. Study 1 utilized DMSO (50% solution, 1 ml/kg) as the test drug and saline solution as the vehicle. The percentages of surviving rats in the DMSO-treated and vehicle-treated groups were never statistically significantly different. There were 59% (13/22) of the DMSO-treated rats and 63% (14/22) of the vehicle-treated rats alive at one hour after resuscitation. Survival rates decreased to 18% (4/22) of DMSO-treated rats and 22% (5/22) of vehicle-treated rats on days 3 through 10. Allopurinol (25 mg/kg) was the test drug in study 2, and 0.18-M sodium hydroxide was the vehicle. The survival rate of resuscitated rats was statistically significantly greater at two days in the drug-treated group (68%, 15/22) than in the vehicle-treated group (36%, 8/22) (chi 2 = 4.46, df = 1, P less than 0.05). The difference increased to a maximum of 68% (15/22) of the allopurinol-treated group versus 27% (6/22) of the vehicle-treated group at days 7 and 8 (chi 2 = 7.38, df = 1, P less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
mesh_terms: D000493:Allopurinol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005609:Free Radicals; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D012151:Resuscitation; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D000493:Allopurinol; D010100:Oxygen; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide