Failure of IL-8 to assess early reperfusion injury following lung transplantation of cardiac death donor pigs.

Although interleukins (IL) 8 and 10 predict lung viability in lung transplantation from heart beating donors (HBD) and IL-1beta is a marker of ex vivo performance from after cardiac death donors (ACDD), IL expression in the recipient remains unknown. This study assessed IL-1beta, IL-8 and IL-10 as indicators of functional performance in single-lung transplantation from ACDD pigs. Animals were divided into: (i) HBD: immediate lung excision; (ii) ACDD: fibrillation, 30 min warm ischemia and 3 h topical cooling. Left lungs of both groups were then flushed with Perfadex and stored at 3-4 degrees C for 3 h. IL in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and hemodynamic and graft function were measured in the donor and during the 2 h reperfusion period in the recipient. Myeloperoxidase, nuclear factor kappa beta, wet/dry weight ratio and a histologic injury score were assessed from biopsies in basal conditions in the donor and at the end of reperfusion. Despite similar pulmonary function and histologic markers of injury in both groups and higher IL-1beta in the donor of ACDD, IL-8 during reperfusion was significantly lower in ACDD (119 +/- 33% of basal) than in HBD (306 +/- 238%, P < 0.05) recipients. The paradoxical behavior of IL-8 makes it an unreliable predictor of ACDD early outcome in this transplantation model.