Factors influencing fibrin-induced pulmonary edema

Effects of depth of anesthesia, pH of fibrinogen and thrombin, and interventions in the vagus nerves on the development of fibrin-induced pulmonary edema were examined in the rat. Rats were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital sodium, 25 or 50 mg/kg. Solutions of fibrinogen and thrombin at the same pH were separately injected into the cisterna magna. The pH values were adjusted to 6.5 or 8.5 with Tris buffer. Interventions in the vagus nerves, which consisted of atropine administration at a dose of 1 mg/kg, i.v. or bilateral vagotomy, were performed before the intracisternal injection of fibrinogen and thrombin. Animals in which no interventions in the vagus nerve was performed were designated as intact rats. Lung-water ratio was calculated as a ratio of the difference between wet and dry lung weight to dry lung weight. Incidences of pulmonary edema and lung-water ratios were lower under deep anesthesia than under light anesthesia. Both parameters were low in the vagotomized rats treated under deep anesthesia with fibrinogen and thrombin at a pH of 8.5, as compared to those treated similarly at pH 6.5. This phenomenon was not observed under light anesthesia. Interventions in the vagus nerves influenced the development of pulmonary edema to various degrees, depending on the pH values of the injected fibrinogen and thrombin. As suggested from these results, well-defined, specific conditions are required for investigating the mechanism triggering the development of fibrin-induced pulmonary edema.