[Organ specific expression pattern of a carbon monoxide generating stress protein (hemoxygenase-1/heatshock protein...

Recent evidence suggests a possible role for Haeme oxygenase (HO)-derived carbon monoxide (CO) in the regulation of vascular tone through elevation of cyclic 3'-5' guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). Previous work from our laboratory has shown that blockade of the HO pathway by tin-protoporphyrin-IX (SnPP) after resuscitation from hemorrhage leads to a specific and profound increase in portal resistance while neither systemic nor hepatic arterial resistance are affected. We therefore investigated the organ-specific expression pattern of the stress-inducible protein haeme oxygenase-1/heat shock protein 32 after haemorrhage and resuscitation.

After approval of the protocol by the local review board, male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6/group) were anaesthetised with pentobarbitone, instrumented for assessment of central haemodynamics and subjected to haemorrhagic hypotension (40 mm Hg for 1 h) followed by resuscitation with 60% shed blood and Ringer's solution or a time-matched sham protocol. Samples of liver, spleen, kidney intestine, aorta, and lungs were harvested 5 h after the onset of resuscitation and subjected to Western-blot analysis using a specific anti-rat HO-1/hsp 32 antibody (StressGen, Sidney, Canada).

Resuscitation with shed blood/Ringer's solution restored central haemodynamics and acid-base status while significant haemodilution was observed. Haemorrhage and resuscitation led to strong induction of HO-1 in the liver and slight induction in aortic tissue, while no increase in steady-state protein levels was observed in the other organs studied.

These results suggest a specific contribution of the HO/CO pathway to maintenance of low hepatic portal resistance in vivo in a clinically relevant model of haemorrhagic shock and adequate resuscitation.