Experimental Lung Donor Models for Transplant

Abstract

<h3>Purpose</h3> The main types of accepted donations may be divided into: Donation after Brain Death and Donation after Circulatory Death. In addition to that, some important events are frequently associated to these two types of donors, such as Hemorrhagic Shock (HS) and Cold Ischemia (CI). These events also guide the standardization of the various experimental models developed by research groups for the employment of specific treatments: brain death (BD), circulatory death (CD), HS and CI. In this study, we aimed to describe and compare the lung mechanics and inflammatory process related to these four experimental models of lung donors. <h3>Methods</h3> Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups: BD (intracranial Fogarty balloon inflation), HS (hypovolemic protocol - 40 mmHg), CD (circulatory death + 3 h warm ischemia) and CI (6 h cold ischemia). Inflammatory responses and edema were assessed. In addition to these, as the BD and HS rats were kept hemodynamically stable for six hours, monitoring of lung mechanics was possible. <h3>Results</h3> Six hours after the induction of the HS, increase in elastance and resistance were observed (fig. 1). In lung tissue, BD and HS presented high levels of IL-1β and IL-6 in comparison to the CD and CI groups. In contrast, IL-10 levels were higher in the HS group, being significantly different when compared to the CD group. Finally, the BD group had the highest lung wet-to-dry ratio (fig. 2). <h3>Conclusion</h3> The experimental model of HS cause dysfunction of the lung mechanics. BD and HS lead to increased levels of cytokines and lung edema. These differences should be carefully considered to choose the ideal experimental model for developing specific therapeutic strategies.