The effect of deferoxamine on ischemic changes in rat skeletal muscle: a preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of deferoxamine in preventing detrimental microvascular changes in ischemically damaged skeletal muscle during the initial reperfusion stage. Sprague-Dawley rats were given saline or deferoxamine (25 or 50 mg/kg) intravenously just prior to release of an air tourniquet placed around one hindlimb for 4 h. The limb was allowed to reperfuse for 2 h. Vascular leakage of plasma protein was assayed by determining the amount of 131I-labeled serum albumin that was given intravenously 30 min prior to release of the tourniquet. The wet and dry weights of the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles and the 131I activity were evaluated in both ischemic and nonischemic limbs. Although vascular permeability and edema increased markedly in both muscles in the ischemic limbs, there were no significant differences between the saline or either treatment groups. The lack of effect of deferoxamine in this initial report suggests that skeletal muscle may differ from other tissues in the early reperfusion stage.