Effect of endotoxin administration on equine digital hemodynamics and starling forces

Using a pump-perfused extracorporeal isolated digital preparation, the effects of a 30-minute infusion of either saline solution (control) or endotoxin on equine digital hemodynamics and microvascular function were determined. Digital blood flow and arterial, venous, and capillary pressures were recorded at 15-minute intervals for 150 minutes. From these data, total vascular resistance and pre- and postcapillary resistances were calculated. Isogravimetric capillary filtration coefficient, vascular compliance, and the osmotic reflection coefficient were determined after the last hemodynamic measurements were taken. Changes in hemodynamic values of control equine digits were not observed. During the 120 minutes after infusion of endotoxin, digital blood flow decreased 43%, and total vascular resistance increased 89%. Precapillary resistance increased 122%, but postcapillary resistance did not change significantly. Changes in vascular compliance or the capillary filtration coefficient were not observed in response to either treatment. The osmotic reflection coefficient, an index of permeability, did not differ significantly between digits of the endotoxin-treated and control groups. These data indicate that the increase in vascular resistance during endotoxemia may have been attributable to arterial/arteriolar constriction and that neither the permeability nor the surface area of the exchange vasculature within the digit was significantly affected by endotoxin. Although marked alterations in vascular function are seen after administration of endotoxin, these changes do not parallel those documented in association with experimentally induced laminitis.