The nitric oxide donor, diethylamine NONOate, enhances preservation of the donor rat heart.

Background: Ischemia/reperfusion injury to transplanted organs may be associated with loss of endothelial release of nitric oxide. The aim of this study was to determine whether supplementation of an extracellular-based cardioplegic solution in routine clinical use at our institution with nitric oxide (as diethylamine NONOate) enhanced poststorage functionality of an isolated working heart model. Methods: Excised hearts were ligated to an aortic cannula and immediately perfused retrogradely with oxygenated Krebs solution at a hydrostatic pressure of 100 cm H 2 O at 37° C. This preparation was then converted to a working system by switching the supply of perfusate from the aorta to a left atrial cannula at a filling pressure of 15 cm H 2 O. After a 1-minute stabilization period, baseline measurements of heart rate, aortic flow, coronary artery flow, and cardiac output were performed. Oxygenated cardioplegic solution (0. 1 μmol/L), with or without NONOate, was then infused into the coronary circulation. Hearts were then stored in the same solutions for 6 or 12 hours at 2° to 3° C. The hearts were then remounted on the perfusion apparatus and reperfused as before, and hemodynamic measurements were repeated. Water content of the hearts were then determined. Results: Addition of the nitric oxide donor significantly improved all hemodynamic parameters measured after 12 hours storage and aortic flow at 6 hours storage compared with the untreated control groups. There was no significant difference between the water contents of the NONOate-treated and control groups. Conclusions: The presence of the nitric oxide donor diethylamine NONOate was associated with significantly better preservation of coronary artery flow and cardiac function in the isolated rat heart after a 12-hour period of hypothermic storage and suggests a novel use for this family of compounds in the transplantation context.