Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 65, Issue 1 80-88, Copyright © 1988 by American Physiological Society
Selective lung leukosequestration after complement activation
J. M. Klausner, L. Kobzik, C. R. Valeri, D. Shepro and H. B. Hechtman
Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hosital, Boston, Massachusetts.
This study tests whether activated complement leads to a selective
entrapment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN's) in the lungs. Awake
sheep were infused for 5 min with zymosan-activated plasma (ZAP, 2.5 mg/ml)
at a rate of 5 ml/min into the superior vena cava (IV, n = 4) or
intra-arterially into the aortic arch or femoral artery (IA, n = 8). At the
end of IV infusion, leukocyte counts fell from 8,862 to 1,631/mm3 (P less
than 0.01). PMN counts across the lungs decreased by 74%. There were
increases in plasma thromboxane (Tx) B2 from 114 to 2,733 pg/ml (P less
than 0.01), mean pulmonary arterial pressure from 12 to 42 mmHg (P less
than 0.01), and physiological shunt from 13 to 25% (P less than 0.05).
Within 1 h lymph TxB2 levels had risen from 301 to 4,916 pg/ml (P less than
0.01), lung lymph flow (QL) rose from 3.7 to 11.1 ml/30 min (P less than
0.05), lymph-to-plasma protein ratio (L/P) remained unchanged at 0.63, and
lymph protein clearance increased from 2.3 to 7.5 ml/30 min (P less than
0.05). Leukosequestration, quantitated by capillary PMN counting and by
assaying the granulocyte marker myeloperoxidase, occurred relative to sham
animals (P less than 0.05) in the lung and spleen but not in other organs.
Intra-arterial ZAP infusion led to changes that were similar in magnitude
and timing to the IV group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
