Ma. Hidalgo et al., EFFECTS OF DEPOLARIZING OR NONDEPOLARIZING PRESERVATION SOLUTIONS ON HUMAN ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS DURING COLD HYPOXIA, Clinical science, 90(2), 1996, pp. 135-141
1. Hypothermic storage of whole organs flushed with a preservation sol
ution is common practice in clinical transplantation. This procedure l
eaves vascular endothelial cells in direct contact with the preservati
on solution during the length of the cold ischaemic period. 2. Aiming
to study the effects of organ preservation on vascular endothelium, we
subjected cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells to hypox
ic and hypothermic storage conditions in vitro for 3 or 16 h. Four pre
servation solutions with different levels of sodium and potassium were
tested. Morphometric analysis and Cr-51 leakage index were used to as
sess monolayer continuity, cell viability and membrane integrity. 3. H
ypothermic storage resulted in severe changes in endothelial cell morp
hology with formation of intercellular gaps that destroyed monolayer c
ontinuity after only 3 h. Cellular blebbing was a common feature in se
riously damaged cells. 4. Morphometric analysis and Cr-51 leakage resu
lts correlated well. No significant differences between the solutions
tested were found after 3 h of hypothermic hypoxic storage. After 16 h
, viability and monolayer continuity were significantly better preserv
ed (Mann-Whitney, P<0.01) in cells stored in lactobionate-based soluti
ons than in hypertonic citrate solutions. No significant differences w
ere found between endothelial cells stored in extracellular versus int
racellular types of solutions for the lactobionate-based solutions. 5.
The results of the present experiment showed that after a period of h
ypothermic hypoxic storage, vascular endothelial cells appeared morpho
logically deformed and poorly attached in vitro. Lactobionate-based pr
eservation solutions were more effective in preserving viability and c
ontinuity. Protection of vascular endothelium under cold hypoxic condi
tions could be a critical factor in successfully preserving organs for
transplantation.