Peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst reduces vasopressin requirement in ovine MRSA sepsis

Sepsis is one of the most frequent causes of death in the intensive care unit. Host vascular hypo-responsiveness to vasopressors during septic shock is one of the challenging problems. This study tested the hypothesis that adjunct therapy with peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst (WW-85) would reduce arginine vasopressin (AVP) requirements during sepsis resuscitation, using ovine sepsis model.

Thirteen adult female Merino sheep, previously instrumented with multiple vascular catheters, were subjected to "two-hit" (cotton smoke inhalation and intrapulmonary instillation of live methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; 3.5 × 10¹¹ colony-forming units) injury. Post injury, animals were awakened and randomly allocated to the following groups: (1) AVP: injured, fluid resuscitated, and titrated with AVP, n = 6 or (2) WW-85 + AVP: injured, fluid resuscitated, treated with WW-85, and titrated with AVP, n = 7. One-hour post injury, a bolus intravenous injection of WW-85 (0.1 mg/kg) was followed by a 23-h continuous infusion (0.02 mg/kg/h). Titration of AVP started at a dose of 0.01 unit/min, when mean arterial pressure (MAP) decreased by 10 mmHg from baseline, despite aggressive fluid resuscitation, and the rate was further adjusted to maintain MAP. After the injury, all animals were placed on a mechanical ventilator and monitored in the conscious state for 24 h.

The injury induced severe hypotension refractory to aggressive fluid resuscitation. High doses of AVP were required to partially attenuate the sepsis-induced hypotension. However, the cumulative AVP requirement was significantly reduced by adjunct treatment with WW-85 at 17-24 h after the injury (p < 0.05). Total AVP dose and the highest AVP rate were significantly lower in the WW-85 + AVP group compared to the AVP group (p = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively). Treatment with WW-85 had no adverse effects. In addition, the in vitro effects of AVP on isolated artery diameter changes were abolished with peroxynitrite co-incubation.

The modulation of reactive nitrogen species, such as peroxynitrite, may be considered as a novel adjunct treatment option for septic shock associated with vascular hypo-responsiveness to vasopressors.