Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026
A Rat Lung Transplantation Model of Warm Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury: Optimizations to Improve Outcomes
Published on: October 28, 2021
Cromolyn ameliorates acute and chronic injury in a rat lung transplant model
Jui-Chih Chang1, Jason Leung2, Tao Tang3
1Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Surgery, Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan.
Background:
Mast cells have been associated with obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) in human pulmonary allografts, although their role in the development of OB remains unknown.
Methods:
In this study, we evaluated the role of mast cells in pulmonary allograft rejection using an orthotopic rat pulmonary allograft model that utilizes chronic aspiration of gastric fluid to reliably obtain OB. Pulmonary allograft recipients (n = 35) received chronic aspiration of gastric fluid with (n = 10) and without (n = 16) treatment with a mast cell membrane stabilizer, cromolyn sodium, or chronic aspiration with normal saline (n = 9) as a control.
Results:
The acute graft injury associated with long ischemic time in the model (6 hours total ischemic time; typical acute graft injury rate ~30%) was apparently blocked by cromolyn, because peri-operative mortality associated with the acute graft injury was not observed in any of the animals receiving cromolyn (p = 0.045). Further, the rats receiving cromolyn developed significantly fewer OB lesions than those treated with gastric fluid alone (p < 0.001), with a mean reduction of 46% of the airways affected.
Conclusions:
These findings provide impetus for further studies aimed at elucidating the effects of cromolyn and the role of mast cells in pulmonary allotransplantation.
