Experimental study of a new dextran-40-based combined solution on a small laboratory animal model

Background. Organ shortage remains an unsolved issue in the field of transplantology. It is particularly severe in such a progressive area as lung transplantation. The creation of extracorporeal systems for rehabilitation of donor organs has been made possible by perfusion techniques; however, the search for the best perfusion and preservation solutions remains important.

Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of the developed solution for preservation and normothermic ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), as well as to conduct a comparative analysis with the standard perfusion solution for EVLP.

Materials and methods. Experimental studies on small animal models were conducted. All animals were divided into 2 groups – control and experimental. The study stages consisted of: procurement of donor lungs, static cold storage, EVLP and orthotopic left lung transplantation. In the experimental group, the lungs were preserved using an experimental solution, while in the control group, they were preserved in PERFADEX^® Plus (XVIVO, Sweden). Static cold storage lasted for 10 hours. Orthotopic left lung transplantation was performed after EVLP. The follow-up period was 2 hours, after which blood samples and sections of the transplanted lung were taken for morphological examination. Upon completion of the experiment, the animal was removed from the experiment by exsanguination.

Results. Respiratory index at the end of perfusion was statistically significantly higher in the experimental group (434 mmHg) than that of the control group (394 mmHg). Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in both groups had a downward trend, which is a good prognostic sign of the efficacy of perfusion agents. PVR was lower in the experimental group compared to the control group – 36 versus 89 dynes/sec/cm^–5.

Conclusion. The developed combined dextran-40-based solution showed its effectiveness as a preservation agent for static cold storage and as a perfusion solution for EVLP.

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