An evaluation of the ability of dextrans to reduce acute tubular necrosis during cold storage preservation.

In this study, the ability of low molecular dextrans to prevent morphologically detectable acute tubular necrosis during cold storage was evaluated. Rat kidneys were flushed with a sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) containing different concentrations of dextran 10 (m.w. of 10,000 or less) and stored at 0-2 degrees C for up to 5 days (samples taken at 24-hr intervals). It was found that solutions containing 20% or more of dextran 10 provided significantly improved morphological preservation of kidney nephrons when compared with currently popular kidney cold storage preservation solutions (i.e. University of Wisconsin and Euro-Collins solutions). Adding smaller amounts (i.e., 15%) of dextran 10 to a cold storage solution already containing another effective osmotic agent (i.e., sucrose) also resulted in superior morphological preservation, indicating a beneficial additive effect of using more than one osmotic agent. Dextran 40 (m.w. 40,000) did not provide as good morphological preservation as did a similar concentration of dextran 10. It is concluded that the use of the proper kind and proper amount of low molecular weight dextrans in preservation solutions can significantly reduce the morphologically detectable acute tubular necrosis during cold storage.