Ventilation-perfusion relationships in isolated blood-free perfused rabbit lungs.

The multiple inert gas elimination technique (MIGET) was applied to blood-free perfused isolated rabbit lungs. Commonly accepted criteria for reliability of the method were found to be fulfilled in this model. Ventilation-perfusion (VA/Q) distributions in isolated control lungs corresponded to those repeatedly detected under physiological conditions. In particular, a narrow unimodal dispersion of perfusate flow was observed: perfusion of low-VA/Q areas ranged below 1% and shunt flow approximately 2-3%; perfusion of high-VA/Q regions was not detected. Gas flow was characterized by narrow dispersion in the midrange-VA/Q areas. Application of a low level of PEEP (1 cmH2O) reduced shunt flow to less than 1%, and low-VA/Q areas were no longer noted. By using this PEEP-level, stable gas exchange conditions were maintained for greater than 5 h of extracorporeal perfusion. Graded embolization with small air bubbles caused a typical rightward shift (to higher VA/Q ratios) of mean ventilation, associated with the appearance of high-VA/Q regions and an increase in dead space ventilation. Mean perfusion was shifted leftward, and shunt flow was approximately doubled. Whole lung lavage with saline for washout of surfactant evoked a progressive manifold increase in shunt flow, accompanied by a moderate rise of perfusate flow to low-VA/Q areas. We conclude that the MIGET can be applied to isolated blood-free perfused rabbit lungs for assessment of gas exchange and that typical patterns of VA/Q mismatch are reproduced in this model.     

Ventilation-perfusion relationships in the lung during head-out water immersion.

Water immersion can cause airways closure during tidal breathing, and his may result in areas of low ventilation-perfusion (VA/Q) ratios (VA/Q less than or equal to 0.1) and/or shunt and, ultimately, hypoxemia. We studied this in 12 normal males: 6 young (Y; aged 20-29 yr) with closing volume (CV) less than expiratory reserve volume (ERV), and six older (O; aged 40-54 yr) with CV greater than ERV during seated head-out immersion. Arterial and expired inert gas concentrations and dye-dilution cardiac output (Q) were measured before and at 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min in 35 degrees C water. During immersion, Y showed increases in expired minute ventilation (VE; 8.3-10.3 l/min), Q (6.1-8.2 l/min), and arterial PO2 (PaO2; 91-98 Torr; P less than or equal to 0.05). However, O2 uptake (VO2), shunt, amount of low-VA/Q areas (% of Q), and the log standard deviation of the perfusion distribution (log SDQ) were unchanged. During immersion, O showed increases in shunt (0.6-1.8% of Q), VE (8.5-11.4 l/min), and VO2 (0.31-0.40 l/min) but showed no change in low-VA/Q areas, log SDQ, Q, or PaO2. Throughout, O showed more VA/Q inequality (greater log SDQ) than Y (O, 0.69 vs. Y, 0.47).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Ventilation-perfusion matching in long-term microgravity.

We studied the ventilation-perfusion matching pattern in normal gravity (1 G) and short- and long-duration microgravity (microG) using the cardiogenic oscillations in the sulfur hexaflouride (SF(6)) and CO(2) concentration signals during the phase III portion of vital capacity single-breath washout experiments. The signal power of the cardiogenic concentration variations was assessed by spectral analysis, and the phase angle between the oscillations of the two simultaneously expired gases was obtained through cross-correlation. For CO(2), a significant reduction of cardiogenic power was observed in microG, with respect to 1 G, but the reduction was smaller and more variable in the case of SF(6). A shift from an in-phase condition in 1 G to an out-of-phase condition was found for both short- and long-duration microG. We conclude that, although the distribution of ventilation and perfusion becomes more homogeneous in microG, significant inhomogeneities persist and that areas of high perfusion become associated with areas of relatively lower ventilation. In addition, these modifications seem to remain constant during long-term exposure to microG.     

The pulmonary hemodynamic changes under experimental myocardial ischemia in rabbits following beta-adrenoreceptors blockade

In acute experiments in anesthetized rabbits, changes of the pulmonary hemodynamics following myocardial ischemia in the region of the descendent left coronary artery were studied as well as in control animals and after the blockade of beta-adrenoreceptors. The myocardial ischemia decreased the left ventricular myocardial contractility, cardiac output and arterial pressure, decreased the pulmonary artery pressure and flow. Following myocardial ischemia, the pulmonary artery pressure decreased less than pulmonary artery blood flow as the result of elevating of the left atrial pressure, meanwhile pulmonary vascular resistance was not changed. Following myocardial ischemia in animals after the blockade of the beta-adrenoreceptors, the pulmonary flow decreased the same as in control animals. However, the pulmonary artery pressure was decreased twofold more significantly than in control animals, and its diminishing was in the same degree as the pulmonary artery flow. Following myocardial ischemia after the blockade of the beta-adrenoreceptors, the pulmonary vascular resistance decreased whereas the left atrial pressure did not change significantly because the myocardial contractility decreased less than in control animals.     

A mapping study of caspase-3 activation following acute spinal cord contusion in rats.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) initiates a cascade of biochemical changes that results in necrotic and apoptotic cell death. There is evidence that caspase-3 activation and apoptotic cell death occur within hours after SCI. However, the time course and cellular localization of activated caspase-3 has not been examined. Such information is essential because caspase-3-independent apoptotic pathways do exist. In this experiment, we describe the distribution of and cell types containing activated caspase-3 at 4 hr, 1 day, 2 days, 4 days, and 8 days following SCI in rats. Numerous caspase-3-positive cells were observed at 4 hr and 1 day postinjury and colocalized most often with CC1, a marker for oligodendroglia. Both markers disappeared near the injury epicenter over the next several days. Activated caspase-3 was again present in the injured spinal cord on postoperative day 8, which coincided with a reemergence of CC1-positive cells. Many of these CC1-positive cells again colocalized activated caspase-3. NeuN-positive neurons of the dorsal horn were occasionally immunopositive for activated caspase-3 at early time points. OX42-positive microglia/macrophages rarely contained activated caspase-3. The results indicate a biphasic pattern of caspase-3 activation during the first 8 days postinjury, suggesting that at least two mechanisms activate caspase-3 following SCI. This time-course study provides a framework for investigating and understanding the different signaling events contributing to this biphasic pattern of caspase-3 activation.     

Causes of experimental pulmonary hypertension in rats.

Experimental pulmonary hypertension was induced in young male rats by means of tracheoconstriction and repeated injections of aqueous bean (Phaseolus vulg.) extract into the trachea. After 120 days, the blood pressure of the experimental and control animals was measured in the pulmonary artery with a shaped polyethylene catheter, without opening the chest. In all the experimental animals the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery was higher than in the controls. The mean pressure in the pulmonary artery of the experimental rats was 25 +/- 1 torr and in the controls 16 +/- 0.4 torr. The right ventricle of the experimental animals was larger than in the controls. No difference was found between the systemic blood pressure values, measured in the femoral artery, in the experimental animals and the controls. The experimental animals had a faster heart rate. Cardiac output, measured by the dye dilution method, was the same in the control and experimental animals and there was likewise no difference in the PO2 PCO2 and pH values in the arterial blood. The inhalation of oxygen instead of air did not affect the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. The pulmonary blood vessels were evaluated quantitatively in histological sections of the experimental and control animal's lungs. There was no different between the thickness of the media of the distal pulmonary vessels, expressed as a percentage of the outer diameter of the vessel, in the experimental animals and the controls. A media thicker than 7% was found in 15% of the evaluated vessels from experimental animals and in 8% of those from the controls. No correlation between the mean thickness of the media and the mean blood pressure in the pulmonary artery was found in any of the animals.     

The pulmonary hemodynamics changes under experimental myocardial ischemia in rabbits following increased arterial pressure

In acute experiments in anesthetized rabbits, changes of the pulmonary hemodynamics following myocardial ischemia in the region of the descendent left coronary artery were studied in control animals and after the infusion of adrenaline and phenylephrine. The pulmonary artery pressure was increased following infusion of these drugs; however, it decreased to normal level in the condition of myocardial ischemia. Meanwhile the pulmonary vascular resistance was elevated to the same level in both cases. Following adrenaline infusion, the pulmonary artery blood flow and venous return increased and, in the condition of myocardial ischemia, they decreased to normal level, but the left atrial pressure was decreased. Following phenylephrine infusion, the pulmonary artery blood flow and venous return did not change and, in the condition of myocardial ischemia, these parameters decreased lower than normal level but the left atrial pressure was elevated. Thus we concluded that equal values of the pulmonary artery pressure in both cases were caused by changes of different character in the left atrial pressure. The differences of the changes character and values of the pulmonary artery flow under experimental myocardial ischemia following the infusion of adrenaline and phenylephrine were caused by different shifts of the venous return.     

Ventilation heterogeneity does not change following pulmonary microembolism.

By using the multiple-breath helium washout technique, ventilation heterogeneity (VH) after embolic injury in the lung can be quantitatively partitioned into the conductive and acinar components. Total VH, represented by the normalized slope of the phase III alveolar plateau, Sn(III (total)), was studied for 120 min in three groups of anesthetized and paralyzed mongrel dogs. Group 1 (n = 3) received only normal saline and served as controls. Group 2 (n = 4) received repeated infusions of polystyrene beads (250 microm) into the right atrium at 10, 40, 80, and 120 min. Group 3 (n = 3) was similarly treated, except that the embolic beads used were 1,000 microm in diameter. The data show that, despite repeated embolic injury by polystyrene beads of different diameters, there was no significant increase in total VH. The acinar component of Sn(III), which represents VH in the distal airways, accounts for over 90% of the total VH. The conductive component of Sn(III), which represents VH between larger conductive airways, remains relatively constant and a minor component. We conclude that pulmonary microembolism does not result in significant redistribution of ventilation.