To study hemodynamics together with various aspects of rejection after experimental heart transplantation, we developed a technique to produce a working left heart model of heterotopic (abdominal) heart transplantation. The interatrial septum and tricuspid valve of the donor heart are removed. The pulmonary arterial trunk, pulmonary veins, and inferior vena cava are ligated, and the stumps of the donor aorta and superior vena cava are anastomosed in an end-to-side fashion to the recipient abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava, respectively. Arterial blood from the recipient abdominal aorta thus perfuses the donor myocardium through the coronary artery, and the donor left ventricle receives venous blood from the recipient inferior vena cava as preload. In this model, the donor left ventricle does not pump out enough venous blood to desaturate the recipient femoral arterial blood but does generate approximately the same pressure as the recipient's heart. This model is reproducible, easy to manage, and can be applied to heterotopic heart transplantation in various experimental animals including rats.

Abdomen↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Free radical chemistry of cigarette smoke and its implication in human cancer.

Multiple components in cigarette smoke were analyzed for their ability to form active oxygen species using a spin trapping agent, 5, 5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide. The main source of O2 and H2O2 was ascribed to polyphenols in a particulate phase, whereas a synergistic effect was also observed between these polyphenols and nicotine. The vapor phase contained a factor which produced OH from H2O2 which was identified as carbonyl sulfide. Nitric oxide in the vapor phase did not show such reactivity. The formation of an active oxygen species in cigarette smoke could provide an important clue to elucidate the mechanism of tobacco carcinogenesis, since they show genotoxic effects to induce DNA strand breaks as well as epigenetic effects to act as cell proliferation signals.

Humans↗