Pulmonary vascular response to aerosolized cromolyn sodium and repeated epochs of isocapneic alveolar hypoxia in lambs.

We investigated the effect of aerosolized cromolyn sodium (CS) on the pulmonary vascular response to isocapneic alveolar hypoxia in chronically instrumented lambs aged 11-12 days. Each lamb underwent two operations: chest instrumentation for measurements of pulmonary arterial, systemic arterial, and left atrial pressures, and pulmonary blood flow; and a tracheotomy for drug administration. The animals were recovered 3 days before study. Each lamb received an aerosol of normal saline (placebo) and CS in paired experiments 24 h apart. In the first set of experiments (n = 8), placebo or CS (30 mg) was given, followed by four 15-min epochs of alveolar hypoxia (8% O2, 5% CO2, 87% N2) each separated by 30 min of alveolar normoxia (21% O2). During hypoxia after both placebo and CS, pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance increased. This response was unchanged with repeated epochs. In the second set of experiments (n = 8), normal saline or CS (30 mg) was administered three times over a 90-min period, followed by one 15-min epoch of hypoxia. Pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance increased during hypoxia after placebo, but did not change after CS. Thus, the single dose of aerosolized CS did not alter the pulmonary vascular response to alveolar hypoxia, whereas the triple dose of CS attenuated the response. Additionally, the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia alone was not altered by repeated exposures to hypoxia. We conclude that CS interferes with the mechanism(s) responsible for hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in newborn lambs.