Increased Arginase Expression and Decreased Nitric Oxide in Pig Donor Lungs after Normothermic Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion.

An established pig lung transplantation model was used to study the effects of cold ischemia time, normothermic acellular ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) and reperfusion after lung transplantation on l-arginine/NO metabolism in lung tissue. Lung tissue homogenates were analyzed for NO metabolite (NOx) concentrations by chemiluminescent NO-analyzer technique, and l-arginine, l-ornithine, l-citrulline and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) quantified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The expression of arginase and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms in lung was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The role of the endothelin-1 pathway as a biomarker for donor lung assessment in clinical ex vivo lung perfusion.

Background: Normothermic ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) is a preservation technique that allows reassessment of donor lungs before transplantation. We hypothesized that the endothelin-1 (ET-1) axis would be associated with donor lung performance during EVLP and recipient outcomes after transplantation.

Methods: ET-1, Big ET-1, endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE), and nitric oxide (NO) metabolites were quantified in the perfusates of donor lungs enrolled in a clinical EVLP trial.