Labow R S, Meek E, Waghray G
Cardiovascular Devices Division, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
J Heart Lung Transplant. 1995 Jan-Feb;14(1 Pt 1):66-74.
The University of Wisconsin storage solution has been successful in some model systems in extending the storage period of heart-lung grafts for transplantation.
In this study an aerated preparation of rat heart and lung was stored for 24 hours at 4 degrees C in either University of Wisconsin or St. Thomas' Hospital solution. Cell organelles (reticular, mitochondrial, and cell membrane fractions) were isolated from the stored hearts and lungs. Protein yield and enzyme activities were assayed for each cell organelle (reticular fractions: Ca(2+)-ATPase, NADPH-cytochrome C reductase; mitochondria: Ca(2+)-ATPase, cytochrome C oxidase; cell membrane fraction: Na+,K(+)-ATPase, p-nitrophenylphosphatase) as a measure of the recovery of function.
Only the cell membrane fraction of heart and lung was not affected by storage in either St. Thomas' Hospital or University of Wisconsin solution with respect to protein yield (milligrams per gram of homogenate) or enzyme activities (nanomole per milligram per minute). The reticular fraction was the most sensitive to storage, with both protein yield and enzyme activities being significantly reduced in both the heart and the lung stored in University of Wisconsin of St. Thomas' Hospital solution (p < 0.05).
The mitochondrial fraction was not preserved in lung in either St. Thomas' Hospital or University of Wisconsin solution but was preserved in the heart stored in St. Thomas' Hospital solution. These criteria provide preliminary screening for a superior solution that may then be used in more complicated transplantation models to more fully assess cardiac and pulmonary function.
