The protective effect of calcium inhibitors and of captopril on the renal microcirculation during reperfusion.

Reperfusion injury is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the development of posttransplant acute tubular necrosis. Previous studies have shown that addition of the calmodulin inhibitor trifluoperazine (TFP) to Collins' flush solution protected the cortical microcirculatory integrity and dramatically improved renal viability after transplantation. The present report describes the protective effect(s) of TFP in the course of reperfusion injury. Twenty mongrel dogs underwent bilateral nephrectomy; in each instance, the left kidney was flushed immediately with 250 ml of cold Collins' solution, and the right kidney was flushed with the same solution containing TFP, 5 mg/L. After 48 and 72 hr of preservation, each kidney was connected through silastic shunts to the femoral vessels of another dog. The mean renal blood flow (RBF) immediately after reperfusion was 2.2 ml/g/min and 1.7 ml/g/min in the left and right kidneys, respectively, and was similar to mean RBF measurements prior to nephrectomy. After 15 min of reperfusion, there was a sharp decrease in mean RBF in the Collins' flushed kidneys, which persisted after 60 min of reperfusion (0.37 ml/g/min). In contrast, there was only a mild decrease in mean RBF in the TFP-flushed kidneys (1.27 ml/g/min). A partial explanation for the favorable effect of TFP may be related to the inability of the ischemic cell to handle the increased calcium load associated with reperfusion (calcium paradox). In a test of this possibility, 0.5 mg/kg of verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, was infused during reperfusion. No beneficial effects of this drug were noted in either Collins' or TFP-flushed kidneys (n = 10). However, when 1.25 mg/kg of captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, was infused at the time of reperfusion, a dramatic amelioration of the reperfusion injury occurred in the Collins' flushed kidneys (1.2 ml/g/min) (n = 10). Taken together, these data suggest that the damage to cold-preserved kidneys flushed with Collins' solution alone may occur at the time of actual reperfusion. Such reperfusion damage is ameliorated by TFP and captopril. The known relationship between calcium and the effect of angiotensin on the vascular smooth muscle cell may explain in part the protective role of calcium inhibitors placed in preserved kidneys prior to reperfusion.