title: Lung retrieval from non-heart beating cadavers with the use of a rat lung transplant model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lungs retrieved from cadavers after death and circulatory arrest may alleviate the critical shortage of lungs for transplant. We report a rat lung transplantation model that allows serial measurement of arterial blood gases after left single lung transplantation from non-heart beating donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve Sprague-Dawley rats underwent left lung transplantation with a vascular cuff technique. Donor rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital, heparinized, intubated via tracheotomy, and then killed with pentobarbital. Lungs were retrieved immediately or after 2 hours of oxygen ventilation after death (tidal volume 1 mL/100 g, rate 40/min FIO2 = 1.0, positive end-expiratory pressure 5 cm H2O). Recipient rats were anesthetized, intubated, and ventilated. The carotid artery and jugular vein were cannulated for arterial blood gases and infusion of Ringer's lactate (4 mL/h). Anesthesia was maintained with halothane 0.2%, and recipient arterial blood gases were measured at 4 and 6 hours after lung transplantation after snaring the right pulmonary artery for 5 minutes. Animals were put to death 6 hours after lung transplantation, and portions of transplanted lungs were frozen in liquid nitrogen and assayed for wet/dry ratio, myeloperoxidase as a measure of neutrophil infiltration, and conjugated dienes as a measure of free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Arterial PO2 and wet/dry ratio were not significantly different in recipients of non-heart beating donor lungs retrieved immediately after death or after 2 hours of oxygen ventilation. Significant neutrophil infiltration was observed in recipients of non-heart beating donor lungs retrieved 2 hours after death from oxygen-ventilated donors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Strategies to ameliorate reperfusion injury may allow for successful lung transplantation from non-heart beating donors.
authors: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors: A C
authors: AC
authors: Kiser
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Ciriaco
authors: S C
authors: SC
authors: Hoffmann
authors: T M
authors: TM
authors: Egan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002102:Cadaver; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D016040:Lung Transplantation; D023421:Models, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement