Inhaling nitric oxide helps transplant success

The colorless gas improves post-surgical liver function by minimizing reperfusion injury, an unwanted side effect of restoring blood flow swiftly to a donor organ moments after transplantation into the recipient, the study authors said.

The findings on inhaled NO were published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Results from this small study are preliminary and must be confirmed through larger clinical trials, said Rakesh Patel, Ph.D., an associate professor in the UAB Department of Pathology and a co-lead author on the study.

Exactly how the inhaled NO improves organ function at the cellular and molecular level is still unknown, Patel said. What is clear from post-surgical data are the benefits of inhaled NO for transplant patients: decreased hospital length-of-stays, and improved blood-clotting and liver-enzyme activity in post-transplant tests. Inhaled NO was administered to study subjects through an anesthesia mask by UAB anesthesiologists during transplant surgery.

The trial was designed to be “blinded” and placebo-controlled, which means some patients got inhaled NO and others did not, and neither patients nor their surgeons knew who was getting the gas.

“We were pleasantly surprised at how good the inhaled NO patients performed after the results were gathered,” Patel said. He said the results also showed inhaled NO protects transplanted livers from a rise in hepatic cell death. NO can be toxic to humans if breathed at high doses without medical supervision. Doses administered to the Journal of Clinical Investigation study participants were about 80 ppm, which did not cause toxicity and even proved beneficial, Patel said.

A larger clinical trial of inhaled NO involving more patients is about to start up at UAB in conjunction with Seattle-based University of Washington and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. Since reperfusion injury is possible in a wide range donated organs, the hope is that inhaled NO holds promise for improving “results to other solid organ transplants, such as heart, lung, kidney and pancreas,” said Devon Eckhoff, M.D., chief of UAB’s liver transplant program and a professor in the Department of Surgery.

Clearly if more donor organs end up healthier after transplantation, then donor-organ shortages may see some relief. “The more organs that are made suitable for transplantation will decrease the wait time for organ transplant recipients and subsequently save lives,” Eckhoff said.

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham

Astronaut health on moon may depend on good dusting
Lunar dust could be more than a housekeeping issue for astronauts who visit the moon. Their good health may depend on the amount of exposure they have to the tiny particles.
Sewer-gas-induced suspended animation is rapid and reversible
Low doses of the toxic gas responsible for the unpleasant odor of rotten eggs can safely and reversibly depress both metabolism and aspects of cardiovascular function in mice, producing a suspended-animation-like state. In the April 2008 issue of the journal Anesthesiology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reseachers report that effects seen in earlier studies of hydrogen sulfide do not depend on a reduction in body temperature and include a substantial decrease in heart rate without a drop in blood pressure.
Specialized natural killer cells in human tonsils pack a punch
Tonsils are a source of sore throats and an excuse for ice cream. But they also provide an important protective service, their immune-cell-rich tissue acting as the body’s first defense against the germs about to be swallowed or inhaled. Researchers have known that tonsils are packed with B cells, which flag invaders for other cells to attack. But a new study by Rockefeller University scientists shows that tonsils also house a different, very specialized cell that helps protect against the Epstein Barr virus (EBV).
Severe heart attack damage limited by hydrogen sulfide
Administering hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) directly into the heart during a simulated heart attack significantly reduces the tissue and cell damage often seen in oxygen-starved organs, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Michigan State research sheds new light on health dangers of nanoparticles
The nose, usually the first line of defense against inhaled airborne particles that could damage the lungs, may itself be susceptible to the dangers of extremely small particles, called nanoparticles, which are less than 100 nanometers in size. One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.
Suspect bombers might be breath-tested
Terrorist bomb makers beware -- New Jersey scientists have developed a breath tester that might lead to your arrest.
Mailmen might deliver meds in next anthrax attack
(AP) -- If there ever is another anthrax attack, the mailman may deliver your antibiotics. Federal health officials are beginning a project in Minneapolis-St. Paul to let letter carriers stockpile a personal supply of emergency antibiotics so they are protected and ready to go deliver aid to the rest of the city at a moment's notice.
Popular COPD treatment increases risk for cardiac events, cardiac death
New research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that use of the most commonly prescribed once-a-day treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for longer than one month increases the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke by more than 50 percent.

Inhaling nitric oxide helps transplant success

Related stories:

News discussion: