Measurement of the vasoconstrictive substances endothelin, angiotensin II, and thromboxane B2 in cold storage solution can reveal previous renal ischemic insults.

Laboratory of Experimental Surgery, University of Louvain Medical School, Brussels, Belgium.

In a rat model, the left kidney was subjected to 60 min of normothermic ischemia followed by 15 min of reperfusion, whereas the right kidney, serving as a paired control, was not rendered ischemic. Both kidneys were then perfused in situ with either Euro-Collins (EC) solution (n = 12) or University of Wisconsin (UW) solution (n = 6) for 10 min. Each kidney was then harvested and stored at 4 degrees C in its respective solution. After 24 and 48 h of cold storage, the following vasoactive substances were measured in the preservation media: endothelin (ET), angiotensin II (A-II), thromboxane (B2) (TxB2), and prostaglandin I2 (PGI2). After 24 h in EC solution, left kidneys uniformly produced significantly higher concentrations of each vasoactive substance than right kidneys: ET 1.64 +/- 0.3 pg/ml vs 0.82 +/- 0.1 pg/ml (P < or = 0.009); A-II 20.8 +/- 6.2 pg/ml vs 7.75 + 2.3 pg/ml (P < or = 0.007); TxB2 100.8 +/- 17.7 pg/ml vs 40.1 +/- 11.7 pg/ml (P < or = 0.04); PGI2 638.3 +/- 41.1 pg/ml vs 318.3 +/- 36.4 pg/ml (P < or = 0.001), respectively. At 48 h, a similar pattern of results was obtained as the kidney continued to produce TxB2 and prostacyclins during the 24-48 h period. In the UW solution, basal levels of ET and A-II were lower than those in EC solution, but similarly increased after initial ischemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

PMID: 8117396 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]