X-Message-Number: 15379
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 05:19:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Surprise! alcohol is less toxic to hearts than glycols

Title
  Subzero nonfreezing storage of the mammalian cardiac explant. I. Methanol,
  ethanol, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol as
  colligative cryoprotectants.
Source
  Cryobiology.  30(4):366-75, 1993 Aug.
Abstract
  We employed hyperosmotic concentrations of penetrating cryoprotective agents
  (CPA) to store the isolated rat hearts unfrozen at subzero temperatures. The
  effect of acute exposure to CPA was assessed by flushing the hearts with
  CP-14, a cardioplegic solution, containing methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH),
  ethylene glycol (EG), or propylene glycol (PG) for 2 min and
  reperfusing immediately with Krebs-Henseleit buffer in a working-heart model.
  The maximal doses that did not cause irreversible suppression of heart
  function were: MeOH, 1.78 M; EtOH, 1.27 M; EG, 0.84 M; and PG, 0.87 M. For
  nonfreezing storage, the hearts were flushed with CP-14 containing the
  highest tolerable concentrations of MeOH, EtOH, EG, or PG, stored for 6 h at
  -3.7, -2.8, and -1.4 degrees C, respectively, and then reperfused. Control
  cardiac output (CO) was 76.2 +/- 1.8 ml/min. Post-reperfusional recovery of
  CO was 86% in MeOH hearts, 82% in EtOH hearts, 76% in EG hearts, and 79% in
  PG hearts. Thus MeOH offered not only the least cardiac-suppressing effect
  but the lowest nonfreezing storage temperature. When storage time was
  extended, recovery and myocardial ATP level decreased with time in hearts
  flushed with CP-14 + 1.78 M MeOH and stored at -3.7 degrees C. The decay of
  function was faster than the decay of ATP level, suggesting energy was better
  preserved than function. The low return of function, however, may be related
  to CPA toxicity, osmotic stress, and ischemia/reperfusion injury. Nonfreezing
  storage at subzero temperatures using these CPAs may provide a novel approach
  to long-term cardiac preservation.

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