Regional differences in interstitial fluid albumin concentration in edematous lamb lungs.

We have determined regional lung interstitial fluid albumin concentration in lambs with hydrostatic pulmonary edema and correlated it with lung lymph and plasma albumin concentrations. In anesthetized lambs, we raised left atrial pressure to 25-30 cmH2O by obstructing the aorta and volume overloading the lambs with infusions of Ringer lactate solution (group I, n = 10) or sheep's blood (group II, n = 9). We measured lung lymph flow and concentrations of total protein and albumin in plasma and lymph. With micropipettes we also collected interstitial fluid from interlobular septal pools and peribronchial, periarterial, and perivenous liquid cuffs near the hilum for measurement of albumin concentration by the gel immunoelectrophoresis method. In both groups, lung lymph flow increased with left atrial hypertension, and the ratio of lymph to plasma protein concentration fell. For group I, plasma and lymph albumin concentrations during the phase of hydrostatic edema were 1.97 +/- 0.49 and 1.15 +/- 0.36, respectively; for group II, they were 3.77 +/- 0.42 and 2.43 +/- 0.39 g/dl, respectively. Lung wet-to-dry weight ratio averaged 6.0 in both groups. Albumin concentration was always lower in interstitial fluid than in plasma. In both groups, albumin concentration was similar in periarterial and peribronchial fluid cuffs (group I 1.19 +/- 0.6 and 1.36 +/- 0.79 g/dl, respectively; group II 2.87 +/- 1.05 and 2.33 +/- 0.58 g/dl, respectively) but was always greater than that in perivenous and interlobular septal pools (group I 0.61 +/- 0.21 and 0.67 +/- 0.23 g/dl, respectively; group II 1.76 +/- 0.49 and 1.55 +/- 0.52 g/dl, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)