Isolated, ventilated, perfused newborn rabbit lung preparation and its assessment

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Abstract
To achieve an isolated, ventilated, perfused newborn rabbit lung preparation, newborn rabbits are anesthetized and ventilated. The pulmonary vasculature is perfused with a Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution containing glucose and plasma expanders, and the lungs are isolated in a 37.degree. C chamber at 100% humidity. The success of a perfusion is evaluated on 3 levels: visual; mechanical.sbd. a drop in flow of > 20% indicates failure and an increase of > 25% of the initial lung weight indicates fluid accumulation and failure; and biochemical.sbd. the endogenous ATP concentration after perfusion and the level of the enzyme choline phosphotransferase (CPT) after perfusion. Isolated, perfused, ventilated newborn rabbit lungs maintained for 4 h with no changes in the monitored physical and mechanical parameters have an endogenous ATP level of 1.06 .+-. 0.06 (2 SD) .mu.mol ATP/mg wet wt and a CPT level of 1.34 .+-. 0.15 (2 SD) nmol [14C]lecithin produced from [14C]CDP-choline/mg protein in 30 min. These values are stable at a level lower than observed in intact, hypoxic, newborn rabbit''s lungs. In contrast, if perfusion is maintained after any of the monitored criteria indicate failure, the endogenous ATP concentration and CPT activity are significantly depressed.

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