title: Endothelin content of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from allotransplanted pigs is increased during unmodified rejection.
abstract: To find a new method for detection of rejection of allotransplanted lungs, we studied the endothelin content of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid by radioimmunoassay. Left-sided lung allotransplantation was performed in pigs. One group of animals received no treatment with immunosuppressive drugs (rejection group), the other group of animals (treated group) was treated with a triple-drug immunosuppressive regimen (cyclosporine, azathioprine, and methylprednisone), and nontransplanted lungs were controls. The endothelin content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was significantly elevated in the group of pigs with unmodified rejection (29.20 +/- 1.96 pg/ml) compared with that in the immunosuppressed group (15.3 +/- 2.4 pg/ml) and control group (4.27 +/- 1.23 pg/ml). The measurements were made from 5, 33, and 11 samples of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from the rejection, treated, and control groups, respectively. These results suggest that endothelin content of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid could be a marker of lung allograft rejection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aarnio
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hämmäinen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fyhrquist
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harjula
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016232:Endothelins / Q000032:analysis*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D016040:Lung Transplantation; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D016232:Endothelins; D016572:Cyclosporine; D001379:Azathioprine; D008775:Methylprednisolone