Permeability of barriers to albumin flux in lungs of sheep resuscitated from hemorrhagic shock

We assessed pulmonary endothelial and epithelial permeability and lung lymph flow in nine adult sheep under base-line conditions and after resuscitation from profound hemorrhagic shock. Animals were mechanically ventilated and maintained on 1% halothane anesthesia while aortic pressure was held at 40 Torr for 3 h. Systemic heparin was not used. After reinfusion of shed blood, sheep recovered from anesthesia and we measured lung lymph flow (QL), lymph-to-plasma concentration ratio for proteins, and time taken to reach half-equilibrium concentration of intravenous tracer albumin in lymph (t1/2). Twenty-four hours after bolus injection of radio-albumin we lavaged subsegments of the right upper lobe and determined fractional equilibration of the tracer in the alveolar luminal-lining layer. In each sheep we had measured these parameters 7 days earlier under base-line conditions. Animals were killed, and the lungs were used for gravimetric determination of extravascular lung water (gravimetric extravascular lung water-to-dry weight ratio) 24 h after resuscitation from shock. Pulmonary endothelial injury after resuscitation was evidenced by marked increase in QL, without fall in lymph-to-plasma ratio. Time taken to reach half-equilibrium concentration fell from 169 +/- 47 (SD) min in base-line studies to 53 +/- 33 min after shock. There was no evidence of lung epithelial injury. Gravimetric extravascular lung water-to-dry weight ratio was significantly increased in these animals killed 24 h after resuscitation (4.94 +/- 0.29) compared with values in our laboratory controls (4.13 +/- 0.09, mean +/- SD). These data demonstrate a loss of lung endothelial integrity in sheep after resuscitation from profound hemorrhagic shock.