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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2004;128:602-608
© 2004 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Cardiopulmonary support and physiology |
a Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass, USA
b Department of Anesthesiology, Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass, USA
Received for publication October 21, 2003; revisions received February 9, 2004; accepted for publication March 17, 2004.
* Address for reprints: Frank W. Sellke, MD, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 110 Francis St, LMOB 2A, Boston, MA 02215, USA
fsellke{at}caregroup.harvard.edu
| Abstract |
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METHODS: Pigs were subjected to 30 minutes of regional myocardial ischemia by distal left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion, followed by 60 minutes of cardiopulmonary bypass with 45 minutes of cardioplegic arrest and 90 minutes of postcardiopulmonary bypass reperfusion. The treatment group (n = 6) was administered aprotinin systemically (40,000 kallikrein-inhibiting units [KIU]/kg intravenous loading dose, 40,000 KIU/kg pump prime, and 10,000 KIU · kg1 · h1 intravenous continuous infusion). Control animals (n = 6) received crystalloid solution. Global and regional myocardial functions were analyzed by the left ventricular+dP/dt and the percentage segment shortening, respectively. Left ventricular infarct size was measured by tetrazolium staining. Tissue myeloperoxidase activity was measured. Myocardial sections were immunohistochemically stained for nitrotyrosine. Coronary microvessel function was studied by videomicroscopy.
RESULTS: Myocardial infarct size was decreased with aprotinin treatment (27.0% ± 3.5% vs 45.3% ± 3.0%, aprotinin vs control; P < .05). Myocardium from the ischemic territory showed diminished nitrotyrosine staining in aprotinin-treated animals versus controls, and this was significant by grade (1.3 ± 0.2 vs 3.2 ± 0.2, aprotinin vs control; P < .01). In the aprotinin group, coronary microvessel relaxation improved most in response to the endothelium-dependent agonist adenosine diphosphate (44.7% ± 3.2% vs 19.7% ± 1.7%, aprotinin vs control; P < .01). No significant improvements in myocardial function were observed with aprotinin treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Aprotinin reduces reperfusion injury after regional ischemia and cardioplegic arrest. Protease inhibition may represent a molecular strategy to prevent postoperative myocardial injury after surgical revascularization with cardiopulmonary bypass.
| Methods |
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Experimental design
Pigs (30 to 35 kg) were divided randomly into control (n = 6) and aprotinin treatment (n = 6) groups. Groups were subjected to regional left ventricular (LV) ischemia by left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion distal to the first diagonal branch for 30 minutes before CPB. Animals underwent CPB with cardioplegic arrest for 60 minutes. After 5 minutes of CPB, a period of 45 minutes of hyperkalemic cardioplegic arrest followed. The aortic crossclamp then was removed and the LAD occlusion released to reperfuse the myocardium for 10 minutes on CPB, after which the animal was weaned from CPB. The myocardium was reperfused for a total of 90 minutes after CPB. The treatment group received aprotinin systemically (Trasylol; aprotinin injection; Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation, West Haven, Conn) as follows: a 40,000 kallikrein-inhibiting unit (KIU)/kg intravenous (IV) loading dose, a 40,000 KIU/kg CPB circuit prime, and a 10,000 KIU · kg1 · h1 IV continuous infusion. The control group was administered IV crystalloid solution. Arterial blood gas (ABG), arterial blood pressure, hematocrit, LV pressure, coronary blood flow, heart rate, electrocardiogram, oxygen saturation, and temperature were monitored.
Surgical procedure
Pigs were anesthetized with intramuscular ketamine hydrochloride (20 mg/kg) and xylazine (15 mg/kg). General anesthesia with isoflurane gas was maintained by endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, which was held during CPB. The right internal jugular vein and carotid artery were cannulated for monitoring. Through a median sternotomy, a catheter-tipped manometer was placed through the LV apex for pressure measurement. Four 2-mm ultrasonic crystals (Sonometrics Corporation, Ontario, Canada) were placed in the subepicardial layer of the distal LAD territory for analysis of regional myocardial function. A 2-mm ultrasonic coronary flowprobe (Transonic Systems Inc, Ithaca, NY) was placed distal to the site of LAD occlusion. Pigs were given IV heparin (300 U/kg) and cannulated via the distal ascending aorta and right atrium. A vessel loop was passed around the LAD distal to the first diagonal branch for occlusion. CPB was initiated with a kaolin-activated clotting time of more than 480 seconds, which was maintained with repeat administrations of IV heparin. The proximal aorta was crossclamped, and cold crystalloid cardioplegia was infused into the aortic root. An initial 300 mL of cold high-potassium cardioplegia (0°C to 4°C; K+ 25 mmol/L) was administered, followed by 150 mL of cold low-potassium cardioplegia (0°C to 4°C; K+ 12 mmol/L), every 15 minutes. The composition of the crystalloid cardioplegic solution was (mmol/L) NaCl 121, KCl 25 or 12, NaHCO3 12, and glucose 11.
Measurement of global and regional myocardial function
Global myocardial function was assessed by calculating the maximum positive first derivative of LV pressure over time (+dP/dt). Regional myocardial function was determined by using subepicardial 2-mm ultrasonic probes (Sonometrics Corporation) to calculate the percentage segment shortening (%SS), which was normalized to the baseline.
Coronary microvessel studies
Coronary arterioles (60-180 µm internal diameter) were dissected from the LV tissue of the ischemic distal LAD-dependent region. Microvessel studies were performed by in vitro organ bath videomicroscopy as previously described.14 Endothelium-dependent relaxation to adenosine diphosphate (109 to 104 mol/L) and substance P (1014 to 106 mol/L) and endothelium-independent relaxation responses to sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 109 to 104 mol/L) were examined.
Myocardial infarct size, nitrotyrosine staining, and myeloperoxidase activity
At the completion of 90 minutes of post-CPB reperfusion, the LV ischemic area and infarct size were measured by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride staining as previously described.15 Nitrotyrosine staining as a measure of peroxynitrite was performed on myocardial tissue from the distal LAD territory by immunohistochemistry as previously described.16 All immunohistochemical samples were graded (0 to 4; 0 indicated no staining, and 4 indicated dark staining) by a blinded investigator. Myocardial tissue from the distal LAD territory was harvested, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was measured as previously described.17 Assessment of this assay in our laboratory demonstrated a linear relationship (r = 0.92) such that 1 U of MPO activity correlated with 2.9 x 106 porcine neutrophils.
Statistical analysis
Data are shown as mean ± SEM. Statistical analyses were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test and analysis of variance as appropriate.
| Results |
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Global and regional myocardial function and coronary blood flow
No significant differences in the LV +dP/dt were observed between groups (Figure 1, top). In control and aprotinin-treated animals, regional ischemia resulted in dyskinesis in the distal LAD territory, resulting in negative %SS (Figure 1, bottom). During post-CPB reperfusion, the regional myocardial function showed trends of increasing dyskinesis in the control group and decreasing dyskinesis in the aprotinin group, with a significant difference at 90 minutes of post-CPB reperfusion (0.08% ± 0.02% vs 1.05% ± 0.3% SS, aprotinin vs control, respectively; P < .05). No significant differences were observed between groups in coronary blood flow (Figure 2).
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| Discussion |
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In our study, aprotinin treatment produced a reduction in myocardial infarct size as less of the ischemic LAD territory progressed to infarction. A previous study of coronary occlusion in a dog model showed decreased myocardial necrosis with aprotinin,18 yet another study of regional myocardial ischemia in sheep suggested that aprotinin therapy resulted in increased myocardial damage.19 Although these results from animal models are inconsistent, several other studies have provided evidence that aprotinin reduces cardiac enzyme release due to reperfusion injury. Both in a rat model of regional ischemia and an isolated, perfused heart model of cardioplegic arrest, aprotinin treatment resulted in a decreased release of creatine kinase.10,12 Furthermore, in patients, aprotinin therapy has been associated with lower levels of cardiac troponins after cardiac surgery.20,21
Neutrophils play a critical role in reperfusion injury through a process of adhering to the vascular endothelium, transmigrating, and accumulating in the reperfused tissue. During this course, neutrophils are activated and release cytotoxic metabolites, proteolytic enzymes, and cytokines, leading to tissue injury and to recruitment of more neutrophils. In this study, in the aprotinin group, we observed an attenuation of neutrophil infiltration by decreased MPO activity in myocardial tissue from the reperfused LAD territory. Aprotinin has been shown to reduce neutrophil extravasation indirectly by measuring MPO activity10 and directly through intravital microscopy.22 Furthermore, we observed that aprotinin treatment resulted in decreased nitrotyrosine staining of myocardial tissue sections from the ischemic LAD territory. Tissue nitrotyrosine is a metabolic product and an indirect measure of peroxynitrite, a nitrogen radical that is produced during reperfusion injury along with oxygen radicals. Peroxynitrite is produced in patients during cardiac operations23 and has been suggested to contribute to reperfusion injury. In a previous study from our laboratory, treatment with FP-15, a peroxynitrite inhibitor, decreased the extent of reperfusion injury in a pig model of regional myocardial ischemia.16 In addition to reducing nitrogen radical production, aprotinin has been shown to prevent oxygen radical formation.24 On the basis of these observations, mechanisms by which aprotinin attenuates reperfusion injury likely include prevention of neutrophil extravasation and production of oxygen and nitrogen radicals.
Finally, aprotinin therapy was associated with improved coronary microvascular relaxation, which was impaired because of reperfusion injury.3,4 In our study, aprotinin enhanced relaxation responses to both endothelium-dependent (adenosine diphosphate and substance P) and endothelium-independent (SNP) agonists. Although evidence suggests that aprotinin increases endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine after hypothermic circulatory arrest,25 the results of our study did not differentiate between endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent mechanisms of coronary vascular smooth muscle relaxation. The mechanism by which aprotinin improves coronary microvascular relaxation after reperfusion injury likely involves the attenuation of neutrophil activity.26
A limitation of the study is that crystalloid cardioplegia was used. Blood cardioplegia has been associated with greater myocardial protection in laboratory experiments,27,28 and clinical studies have suggested that blood cardioplegia, compared with crystalloid cardioplegia, may improve outcomes in patients with severe preoperative myocardial dysfunction.29,30 Although blood cardioplegia was not used in our study, there is evidence that aprotinin prevents myocardial injury, as measured by troponin release, similarly in patients who undergo cardioplegic arrest with blood or crystalloid solutions.21 Another limitation of the study is that although aprotinin treatment reduced myocardial infarction and enhanced coronary microvascular relaxation, improvement in global and regional myocardial function was not shown. Although during post-CPB reperfusion, aprotinin treatment attenuated the dyskinesis in the reperfused LAD territory, the resulting akinesis would be unlikely to provide a significant improvement in regional myocardial function. A possible explanation for these results is that after 30 minutes of regional ischemia and 45 minutes of cardioplegic arrest, the stunned myocardium was still in the recovery phase, which may require 48 hours or longer after such periods of ischemia for significant restoration of myocardial function.1,2 Overall, although no functional improvement was shown with aprotinin treatment, the trend of a progressive decrease in dyskinesis during the post-CPB reperfusion period suggests that aprotinin reduces the deleterious effects of reperfusion injury on regional LV function.
In conclusion, the results of our study show that aprotinin reduces reperfusion injury in a pig model of regional ischemia and cardioplegic arrest, as seen by decreased infarct size, prevention of neutrophil tissue infiltration and nitrogen radical production, and increased coronary microvascular relaxation. Although the use of aprotinin may not translate into a clinically significant benefit in routine patients who are surgically revascularized, high-risk patientssuch as those with severe coronary artery disease, preoperative cardiac dysfunction, and diabetes mellitusmay be the population that will have greater potential gain from the cardioprotective effects of serine protease inhibition. As the current trend of aggressive coronary artery disease management by percutaneous coronary intervention results in increasingly high-risk patients referred for cardiac surgery, therapy such as serine protease inhibition with aprotinin may allow for continued successful outcomes as cardiac surgeons are presented with more challenging cases for coronary revascularization.
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