Role of leukocytes in reperfusion injury of skeletal muscle after partial ischemia.

These experiments evaluated the leukocyte as a potential source of oxygen free radical (OFR) generation during reperfusion injury in post-ischemic skeletal muscle. The infrarenal aorta of heparinized Sprague-Dawley rats was clamped for 90 min, declamped, and reperfused for 60 min. Hindlimb muscle resting transmembrane potential difference (Em) and high-energy phosphate content were determined at base line, during ischemia, and on reperfusion. Four groups were studied: a control group, a second group receiving superoxide dismutase and catalase (SOD + CAT) on declamping, a third group receiving dimethylmyleran (DMM) 7 days before the experiment to obtain a selective leukopenia (white blood cells = 1,210 +/- 144/mm3, neutrophils = 1.2%), and a fourth group pretreated with allopurinol (ALLO). During the ischemic period, resting Em was significantly depolarized (-78.6 +/- 0.5 mV from -90.3 +/- 0.3; P less than 0.05) in the control group, whereas creatine phosphate (CP) was depleted and ATP maintained. Data collected during the ischemic phase of the three other groups were similar to the control group (P = NS). On reperfusion, persistent depolarization of resting Em was observed despite restoration of muscle CP content in the control and ALLO groups (-75.4 and -77.0 mV, respectively). In contrast, significant repolarization of resting Em was noted after reperfusion in the SOD + CAT and DMM groups (-86.5 and -88.6 mV, respectively). These data implicate leukocyte-generated OFR as mediators of reperfusion-associated cellular membrane injury in postischemic skeletal muscle.