THE EFFECT OF TREHALOSE ON HUMAN LUNG FIBROBLASTS STORED IN EURO-COLLINS AND LOW POTASSIUM DEXTRAN SOLUTIONS

Background. The research on lung preservation for transplantation is d irected to synthesize a solution, in order to prolong the preservation period, thus avoiding the damage to lung tissues caused by ischemia. In recent years some in vivo experimental papers have been published, in which good results were obtained by adding trehalose, a non-reducin g disaccharide able to stabilize the cell membrane, to the storage sol utions. Materials and methods. In this study we have evaluated the eff ects on human lung fibroblasts of commonly used storage solutions Like Euro-Collins (EC) and Low Potassium Dextran (LPD), in which trehalose has respectively replaced glucose (T-EC) or was added (LPD-T). The cu ltures were incubated for 8 hours at 10 degrees C in standard and modi fied solutions. Results. The data relative to EC compared to EC-T show ed that the total protein content and the rate of protein synthesis, t hat is in other words cell viability, are drastically compromised. Con cerning LPD-T, compared to standard LPD, a slightly decrease of the to tal protein content and of the rate of protein synthesis in the cells incubated in the modified solution were observed. The reasons for thes e unexpected data are related to the hypothesis that during the ischem ic period membrane stabilization is neither the main nor the only fact or responsible for the cellular damage. Moreover the role of trehalose in. preservation solutions, is still not clear and should be further investigated. Conclusions. With the limits of the study of single cell s in vitro, the advantages of trehalose containing solutions proved in effective and toxic especially as for as EC-T is concerned.