Hypothermia Increases Tissue Plasminogen Activator Expression and Decreases Post-Operative Intra-Abdominal Adhesion.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic hypothermia during operation decreases postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation. We sought to determine the most appropriate duration of hypothermia, and whether hypothermia affects the expression of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). METHODS: 80 male BALB/c mice weighing 25-30 g are randomized into one of five groups: adhesion model with infusion of 15°C saline for 15 minutes (A); 30 minutes (B); 45 minute (C); adhesion model without infusion of cold saline (D); and sham operation without infusion of cold saline (E). Adhesion scores and tPA levels in the peritoneum fluid levels were analyzed on postoperative days 1, 7, and 14. RESULTS: On day 14, the cold saline infusion groups (A, B, and C) had lower adhesion scores than the without infusion of cold saline group (D). However, only group B (cold saline infusion for 30 minutes) had a significantly lower adhesion scores than group D. Also, group B was found to have 3.4 fold, 2.3 fold, and 2.2 fold higher levels of tPA than group D on days 1, 7, and 14 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that cold saline infusion for 30 minutes was the optimum duration to decrease postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation. The decrease in the adhesion formations could be partly due to an increase in the level of tPA.

Resuscitation Using Liposomal Vasopressin in an Animal Model of Uncontrolled Hemorrhagic Shock.

BACKGROUND: Current research suggests that administration of vasopressin to patients with uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock (UHS) can avoid the detrimental effects associated with aggressive fluid resuscitation. However, vasopressin has a short half-life of 10~35 minutes in in vivo use and precludes its use in the pre-hospital setting. To increase the half-life of vasopressin, we proposed to synthesize liposome-encapsulated vasopressin and test it in a rat model of UHS. METHODS: The film hydration method was used to prepare liposomal vasopressin consisting of: Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and dipalmitoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (20:20:1 mole ratio). 42 rats were subjected to UHS and randomly received 5 different treatments (vasopressin, liposomal vasopressin, lactate ringer (LR), liposome only and sham). Outcome of UHS were measured using 4 common prognostic tests: mean arterial pressure (MAP), serum lactate level, inflammatory profile and pulmonary edema. RESULTS: The dynamic light scattering results confirmed that we had prepared a successful liposomal vasopressin complex. Comparing the serum vasopressin concentration of liposomal vasopressin and vasopressin treated animals by ELISA, we found that the concentration of vasopressin for the liposomal vasopressin treated group is higher at 60 minutes. However, there was no significant difference between the MAP profile of rats treated with vasopressin and liposomal vasopressin in UHS. We also observed that animals treated with liposomal vasopressin performed indifferently to vasopressin treated rats in serum lactate level, inflammatory profile and edema profile. For most of our assays, the liposome only control behaves similarly to LR resuscitation in UHS rats. CONCLUSION: We have synthesized a liposomal vasopressin complex that can prolong the serum concentration of vasopressin in a rat model of UHS. Although UHS rats treated with either liposomal vasopressin or vasopressin showed no statistical differences, it would be worthwhile to repeat the experiments with different liposomal compositions.