Gluconate-Lactobionate-Dextran Perfusion Solutions Attenuate Ischemic Injury and Improve Function in a Murine Cardiac Transplant Model
Yinan Guo,
Franka Messner,
Sarah E. Beck,
Marcos Iglesias Lozano,
Hubert Schwelberger,
Yichuan Zhang,
Kai Kammers,
Byoung Chol Oh,
Elizabeth D. Greene,
Gerald Brandacher,
Kelvin G. M. Brockbank
Affiliations
Yinan Guo
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Laboratory, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Franka Messner
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Laboratory, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Sarah E. Beck
Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Marcos Iglesias Lozano
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Laboratory, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Hubert Schwelberger
Department of Visceral, Transplant and Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Yichuan Zhang
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Laboratory, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Kai Kammers
Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Byoung Chol Oh
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Laboratory, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Elizabeth D. Greene
Tissue Testing Technologies LLC, North Charleston, SC 29406, USA
Gerald Brandacher
Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Laboratory, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Kelvin G. M. Brockbank
Tissue Testing Technologies LLC, North Charleston, SC 29406, USA
Static cold storage is the cheapest and easiest method and current gold standard to store and preserve donor organs. This study aimed to compare the preservative capacity of gluconate-lactobionate-dextran (Unisol) solutions to histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution. Murine syngeneic heterotopic heart transplantations (Balb/c-Balb/c) were carried out after 18 h of static cold storage. Cardiac grafts were either flushed and stored with Unisol-based solutions with high-(UHK) and low-potassium (ULK) ± glutathione, or HTK. Cardiac grafts were assessed for rebeating and functionality, histomorphologic alterations, and cytokine expression. Unisol-based solutions demonstrated a faster rebeating time (UHK 56 s, UHK + Glut 44 s, ULK 45 s, ULK + Glut 47 s) compared to HTK (119.5 s) along with a better contractility early after reperfusion and at the endpoint on POD 3. Ischemic injury led to a significantly increased leukocyte recruitment, with similar degrees of tissue damage and inflammatory infiltrate in all groups, yet the number of apoptotic cells tended to be lower in ULK compared to HTK. In UHK- and ULK-treated animals, a trend toward decreased expression of proinflammatory markers was seen when compared to HTK. Unisol-based solutions showed an improved preservative capacity compared with the gold standard HTK early after cardiac transplantation. Supplemented glutathione did not further improve tissue-protective properties.
