Abstract 217: Increased Oxidation of Amplex Red in Post-Cardiac Arrest Human and Rat Plasma Can Be Utilized as a Potential Marker of Injury Severity

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiac arrest (CA), an unexpected loss of appropriate electrical signaling in the heart, leads to a loss of blood circulation and decreased oxygen perfusion. Ischemia results in the generation of hydrogen peroxide and other reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby causing damage to tissues. Currently, there are no available biomarkers to elucidate the severity of ischemic damage. Therefore, oxidation of the Amplex Red (AR) assay by ROS into its fluorescent product, resorufin, may be used as a marker to determine injury severity. Methods: Plasma isolated from human CA patients from North Shore University Hospital was obtained to determine ROS generation. A commercially available Amplex Red assay kit was used to measure the amount of resorufin produced after oxidation due to hydrogen peroxide, peroxynitrite, and other ROS. To verify our human findings, we arbitrarily assigned adult male Sprague-Dawley rats into three groups (control, 10 min cardiac arrest, and 20 min cardiac arrest) using our reliable asphyxia-induced cardiac arrest model. Results: Despite human variations, our data on human CA patients showed an increased amount of AR oxidation as a result of ischemia. Our 10 min CA rat experimental model verified that Amplex Red is capable of detecting hydrogen peroxide and peroxynitrite formation after ischemia. Rats with 20 mins of ischemia time also produced resorufin, confirming that ischemia induces AR oxidation. Removing horseradish peroxidase and adding catalase controls for hydrogen peroxide and peroxynitrite, which should decrease AR oxidation; however, we observed an increase in AR oxidation. Therefore, we added phenylmethyl sulfonyl acid (PMSF), an inhibitor of carboxylesterase, an enzyme also capable of oxidizing Amplex Red, which resulted in decreased AR oxidation. Conclusion: By accounting for peroxide and peroxynitrite species, the increase in Amplex Red oxidation in the plasma of cardiac arrest human patients and rats can be attributed to carboxylesterase activity. Our data corroborates the various mechanisms of AR oxidation in the setting of ischemia-reperfusion allowing the Amplex Red assay to be utilized as a potential tool for assessing the degree of ischemic damage resulting from cardiac arrest.