European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2001
Survival and graft function in a large animal lung transplant model after 30 h preservation and substitution of the nitric oxide pathway.
Substitution of the nitric oxide- (NO-) pathway improves early graft function following lung transplantation. We previously demonstrated that 8-Br-cGMP (second messenger of NO) to the flush solution and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4, coenzyme of NO synthase) given as additive during reperfusion improve post-transplant graft function. In the present study, the combined treatment with 8-Br-cGMP and BH4 was evaluated. ⋯ Our data indicate that the combined substitution of the NO pathway during preservation and reperfusion reduces ischemia/reperfusion injury substantially and that this treatment even allows lung transplantation after 30 h preservation in this model.