Effect of hypertonic saline pre-treatment on ischemia-reperfusion lung injury in pig

Background: Hypertonic saline may be administered in the setting of lung transplantation but may affect the development of ischemia-reperfusion lung injury. This study investigated the effects of the pre-treatment by intravenous hypertonic saline in a pig model of single lung ischemia-reperfusion. Methods: Forty-three pigs (34 +/- 4 kg) under mechanical ventilation were randomly assigned to a left lung ischemia-reperfusion alone or preceded by 4-ml/kg 7.5% hypertonic saline, 33-ml/kg normal saline, or by the infusion of the vasodilator nicardipine. Animals without ischemia served as controls. After euthanasia, the left lung was sampled for histologic analysis and measurement of lung water and alveolar-capillary permeability. Results: Ischemia-reperfusion resulted in high-permeability pulmonary edema, hypoxemia, and increased interleukin-6 serum level. Hypertonic saline pre-treatment worsened pulmonary edema of the left lung (6.6 +/- 0.7 vs 4.8 +/- 0.8 ml/kg of body weight, p < 0.05) and resulted in a higher ratio of the protein level in the alveolar fluid to the serum protein level (0.41 +/- 0.04 vs 0.21 +/- 0.09, p < 0.05) and in a higher histologic damage score (11 [range, 9-11.75] vs 6.5 [range, 4.5-7.5], p < 0.05) without promoting pulmonary or systemic inflammation. Lung injury was affected neither by normal saline nor by nicardipine pre-treatment. Nicardipine did not influence the deleterious effect of hypertonic saline. Conclusions: Pre-treatment by intravenous hypertonic saline worsened ischemia-reperfusion lung injury independently of its effects on the cardiac index or pulmonary circulation but probably through a direct effect of hyperosmolarity on endothelial permeability.