Despite improvements, lung transplantation remains hampered by both a scarcity of donor organs and by mortality following primary graft dysfunction (PGD). Since acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) limits donor lungs utilization, we investigated cytokine adsorption as a means of treating ARDS donor lungs. We induced mild to moderate ARDS using lipopolysaccharide in 16 donor pigs. Lungs were then treated with or without cytokine adsorption during ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) and/or post-transplantation using extracorporeal hemoperfusion. The treatment significantly decreased cytokine levels during EVLP and decreased levels of immune cells post-transplantation. Histology demonstrated fewer signs of lung injury across both treatment periods and the incidence of PGD was significantly reduced among treated animals. Overall, cytokine adsorption was able to restore lung function and reduce PGD in lung transplantation. We suggest this treatment will increase the availability of donor lungs and increase the tolerability of donor lungs in the recipient.
Label-free chemical and structural imaging of complex living tissue and biological systems is the holy grail of biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. The current analysis techniques are time-consuming and/or require extensive sample preparation, often due to the presence of interfering molecules such as water, making them unsuitable for the analysis of such systems. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-principle study using label-free optical photothermal mid-infrared microspectroscopy (O-PTIR) for fast, direct spatiotemporal chemical analysis of complex living biological systems at submicron resolution. While other analytical methods can provide only static snapshots of molecular structures, our O-PTIR approach enables time-resolved and in situ investigation of chemical and structural changes of diverse biomolecules in their native conditions. This comprises a technological breakthrough in infrared spectroscopy to analyze biomolecules under native conditions over time: in fresh unprocessed biopsies, living brain tissue, and vertebrates without compromising their viability.One-Sentence SummaryProof-of-principle application of non-destructive O-PTIR for high-resolution spatiotemporal chemical and structural analysis of unprocessed biopsies, living brain tissue, and vertebrates.
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