Effects of perfusate composition on hypoxic vasoconstriction in isolated lung lobes.

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Abstract
The pulmonary vasoconstrictor response to alveolar hypoxia was studied in 40 isolated canine left lower lung lobes using 4 different perfusates. Under conditions of constant flow, the maximum rise in arterial pressure caused by alveolar hypoxia was determined for each lobe, as was the arterial pressor response produced by infusion of 100 [mu]g of serotonin. All preparations were responsive to hypoxia to some degree. The data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov 2-sample test and the Fisher exact probability test. These tests indicated that lobes perfused with autologous plasma were more responsive to hypoxia than were lobes perfused with physiologic salt solution (P = 0.05). Lobes perfused with autologous plasma were also more responsive to serotonin than were lobes perfused with either physiologic salt solution or physiologic salt solution containing 5% plasma (P = 0.02 in each case). Plasma does have a minor influence on the responsiveness of isolated lung preparations, but the effect is not a unique characteristic of the hypoxic response.