Elevated donor hemoglobin A1c does not impair early survival in cardiac transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) is the gold-standard therapy for end-stage heart failure. An increasing deficit between suitable allograft availability and clinical demand for OHT exists. The role of donor diabetes mellitus (DM) on post-transplant recipient outcomes in OHT is controversial. The purpose of this study was to examine donor hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels to identify the impact of donor glycemic control on recipient survival. METHODS: Adult OHT recipients with donor HbA1c data were identified in the UNOS database from 2010 to 2015. Recipients were stratified on the basis of donor glycemic status: Hyperglycemic-donor and euglycemic-donor cohorts were defined as HbA1c levels ≥6.5% and <6.5%, respectively. Outcomes were compared between unadjusted and propensity-matched hyperglycemic versus euglycemic donors. Primary end point was three-year survival. RESULTS: Of 5342 OHT recipients, 208 (3.89%) received an allograft from a hyperglycemic donor and 5134 (96.1%) received an allograft from a euglycemic donor. There was no significant difference in survival in the hyperglycemic group before (P=.87) or after (P=.78) propensity matching. CONCLUSIONS: No difference in four-year survival was noted in recipients who received allografts from hyperglycemic donors. These results suggest that recent cumulative donor glycemic status alone may not be an important predictor of recipient outcomes.

Clearance of bile and trypsin in rat lungs following aspiration of human gastric fluid.

PURPOSE: In the clinical setting, there is no reliable tool for diagnosing gastric aspiration. A potential way of diagnosing gastric fluid aspiration entails bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) with subsequent examination of the BAL fluid for gastric fluid components that are exogenous to the lungs. The objective of this study was to determine the longevity of the gastric fluid components bile and trypsin in the lung, in order to provide an estimate of the time frame in which assessment of these components in the BAL might effectively be used as a measure of aspiration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human gastric fluid (0.5 mg/kg) was infused in the right lung of intubated male Fischer 344 rats (n = 30). Animals were sacrificed at specified times following the experimentally induced aspiration, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected. Bile concentrations were analyzed by an enzyme-linked chromatogenic method, and the concentration of trypsin was quantified using an ELISA. Data were analyzed using non-linear regression and a one-phase decay equation. RESULTS: In this experimental model, the half-life of bile was 9.3 hours (r(2) = 0.81), and the half-life of trypsin was 9.0 hours (r(2) = 0.68). CONCLUSIONS: The half-lives of bile and trypsin in the rodent aspiration model suggest that the ability to detect aspiration may be limited to a few days post-aspiration. If studies using rats are any indication, it may be most effective to collect BAL samples within the first 24 hours of suspected aspiration events in order to detect aspiration.

The role of soluble and insoluble gastric fluid components in the pathogenesis of obliterative bronchiolitis in rat lung allografts.

Repetitive gastric fluid aspirations have been shown to lead to obliterans bronchiolitis (OB), but the component or components of gastric fluid that are responsible are unknown. This study investigates the role of particulates and, separately, soluble material in gastric fluid during the development of OB. Whole gastric fluid (WGF) was collected from male Fischer 344 (F344) rats and separated by centrifugation into particle reduced gastric fluid (PRGF) and particulate components resuspended in normal saline (PNS). Orthotopic left lung transplants from male Wistar-Kyoto rats into F344 rats were performed using a modification of the nonsuture external cuff technique with prolonged cold ischemia. Rats were subjected to weekly aspiration of 0.5 ml/kg of WGF (n = 9), PRGF (n = 10), PNS (n = 9), or normal saline (control, NS; n = 9) for 8 weeks following transplantation. Lung allografts treated with WGF, PRGF, or PNS developed a significantly greater percentage of OB-like lesions compared with the control. No statistical difference was observed when comparing the fibrosis grades or the percentage of OB lesions of WGF, PRGF, and PNS groups, suggesting that both soluble and insoluble components of gastric fluid can promote the development of aspiration-induced OB and fibrosis in lung allografts.