Heterotopic rat heart transplantation (Lewis to F344): early ICAM-1 expression after 8 hours of cold ischemia.
BACKGROUND
Primary graft dysfunction is a still poorly understood complication after cardiac transplantation. Ischemia/reperfusion injury contributes to different disorders resulting in impaired graft function.


METHODS
In a heterotopic rat heart transplantation model we extended graft ischemic time up to 8 hours.


RESULTS
Using immunohistochemistry we detected an up to 4-fold increase in intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression during 4 hours of reperfusion, independent of ischemic time (30-minute ischemia: 7.65 +/- 2.15 without reperfusion, 19.46 +/- 4.6 after 4-hour reperfusion; 240-minute ischemia: 5.6 +/- 1.99 and 22.3 +/- 3.77; 480-minute ischemia: 3.7 +/- 1.56 and 13.1 +/- 2.2). Eight-hour ischemic allografts had an increase in CD8-positive cells (1.37 +/- 0.5 and 2.3 +/- 0.77) and a significant increase in MHC II expression (11.48 +/- 2.1 and 18.27 +/- 1.34) during 4 hours of reperfusion.


CONCLUSIONS
We hypothesize that these findings reflect an early inflammatory reaction in the allograft possibly triggered by oxidative stress. During therapeutic interventions, both of these pathways must be considered.
Lange
Volkmar
V
Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Thoracic Vascular Surgery, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany. lange_v@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Renner
André
A
Sagstetter
Martina R
MR
Lazariotou
Maria
M
Harms
Harry
H
Gummert
Jan F
JF
Leyh
Rainer G
RG
Elert
Olaf
O