Comparison of Vasosol and University of Wisconsin Solutions on Early Kidney Function After 24 Hours of Cold Ischemia in a Canine Autotransplantation Model

Abstract

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a significant cause of graft dysfunction in donor kidney transplantation. It has been suggested that improvements in organ preservation solutions can ameliorate some of deleterious effects of I/R on the transplanted graft. We evaluated herein the influence of Vasosol (VAS), a solution that is designed to target specific pathways of I/R injury, and University of Wisconsin (UW) solution on early graft status of donor kidneys in a canine autotransplant model. Left kidneys were recovered from 12 dogs, exsanguinated with either VAS or UW and cooled to 4 degrees C for 24 h. Kidneys were autotransplanted and the right kidneys were nephrectomized. Indices of post-transplant renal function were measured serially for seven days. All animals were euthanized at postoperative day 7. Kidney biopsies were taken at 1, 4, and 24 h postreperfusion for evaluation of tissue myeloperoxidase concentration. All dogs survived the transplant surgery. Post-transplant serum creatinine (mg/dL) and blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL) were significantly elevated in the UW group compared with the VAS group in each of the postoperative days. Moreover, myeloperoxidase tissue levels were significantly elevated in the UW-treated group compared with the VAS-treated group. Our data suggest that a cold storage preserving solution designed to target several modes of I/R injury can improve the function of the autotransplanted canine kidney compared with the current gold standard solution.