Erythrocyte Aggregation due to Surface Nanobubble Interactions During the Onset of Thermal Burn Injury

Red Blood Cell (RBC) aggregation is an important hemorheological phenomenon especially in microcirculation. In healthy individuals, RBCs are known to aggregate and gravitate toward the faster flow in the center of vessels to increase their throughput for more efficient oxygen delivery. Their aggregation is known to occur during a variety of environmental, pathological, and physiological conditions and is reversible when aggregates are subject to the relatively high shear forces in the circulation. The likelihood that aggregates will monodisperse in flow is dependent on the conditions during which they form. In situations where such aggregates are not sheared to monodispersion their presence can impact the perfusion of microvascular networks. More specifically, aggregates subject to the low shear rates in the zone of stasis near regions of thermal burn injury are capable of occluding vessels in the microcirculation and inhibiting the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissue downstream. The basic mechanism leading to erythrocyte aggregation at the onset of thermal injury is unknown. This dissertation investigates parameters involved in erythrocyte aggregation, methods of measuring and testing erythrocyte aggregation, and incorporates modeling based on first principles ultimately to propose a mechanism of this phenomenon. | 190 page

Surfactant phosphatidylcholine half-life and pool size measurements in premature baboons developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Because minimal information is available about surfactant metabolism in bronchopulmonary dysplasia, we measured half-lives and pool sizes of surfactant phosphatidylcholine in very preterm baboons recovering from respiratory distress syndrome and developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia, using stable isotopes, radioactive isotopes, and direct pool size measurements. Eight ventilated premature baboons received (2)H-DPPC (dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine) on d 5 of life, and radioactive (14)C-DPPC with a treatment dose of surfactant on d 8. After 14 d, lung pool sizes of saturated phosphatidylcholine were measured. Half-life of (2)H-DPPC (d 5) in tracheal aspirates was 28 +/- 4 h (mean +/- SEM). Half-life of radioactive DPPC (d 8) was 35 +/- 4 h. Saturated phosphatidylcholine pool size measured with stable isotopes on d 5 was 129 +/- 14 micro mol/kg, and 123 +/- 11 micro mol/kg on d 14 at autopsy. Half-lives were comparable to those obtained at d 0 and d 6 in our previous baboon studies. We conclude that surfactant metabolism does not change during the early development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, more specifically, the metabolism of exogenous surfactant on d 8 is similar to that on the day of birth. Surfactant pool size is low at birth, increases after surfactant therapy, and is kept constant during the first 2 wk of life by endogenous surfactant synthesis. Measurements with stable isotopes are comparable to measurements with radioactive tracers and measurements at autopsy

Effects of antenatal betamethasone on preterm human and mouse ductus arteriosus: comparison with baboon data.

BackgroundAlthough studies involving preterm infants ≤34 weeks gestation report a decreased incidence of patent ductus arteriosus after antenatal betamethasone, studies involving younger gestation infants report conflicting results.MethodsWe used preterm baboons, mice, and humans (≤276/7 weeks gestation) to examine betamethasone's effects on ductus gene expression and constriction both in vitro and in vivo.ResultsIn mice, betamethasone increased the sensitivity of the premature ductus to the contractile effects of oxygen without altering the effects of other contractile or vasodilatory stimuli. Betamethasone's effects on oxygen sensitivity could be eliminated by inhibiting endogenous prostaglandin/nitric oxide signaling. In mice and baboons, betamethasone increased the expression of several developmentally regulated genes that mediate oxygen-induced constriction (K+ channels) and inhibit vasodilator signaling (phosphodiesterases). In human infants, betamethasone increased the rate of ductus constriction at all gestational ages. However, in infants born ≤256/7 weeks gestation, betamethasone's contractile effects were only apparent when prostaglandin signaling was inhibited, whereas at 26-27 weeks gestation, betamethasone's contractile effects were apparent even in the absence of prostaglandin inhibitors.ConclusionsWe speculate that betamethasone's contractile effects may be mediated through genes that are developmentally regulated. This could explain why betamethasone's effects vary according to the infant's developmental age at birth

Follow‐Up Survey on Functionality of Nutrition Documentation and Ordering Nutrition Therapy in Currently Available Electronic Health Record Systems

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141915/1/ncp0401.pd

Clearance of Treatment Doses of Surfactant

Three-day-old rabbits were given intratracheal injections with a variety of surfactants at doses of about 100 mg lipid/kg, doses commonly used in clinical trials of surfactant for respiratory distress syndrome. Calf and sheep natural surfactants isolated by centrifugation of alveolar washes were compared with Surfactant-TA and two aggregate sizes of lipid solvent extracted sheep surfactant by measuring the percent recoveries of labeled phosphatidylcholine in alveolar washes and lung tissue at times to 48 h after surfactant injection. Surfactant-TA and the lipid extracted surfactants did not contain the 28 to 35-kdalton surfactant protein. All surfactants had similar linear clearance rates from the total lung (alveolar wash plus lung tissue), independent of species source, extraction with lipid solvents, or aggregate sizes of the phospholipids in suspension. There were no metabolic consequences to lipid extraction, the loss of 28–35 kdaltons of protein, or changes in aggregate sizes of surfactant lipids when injected in treatment doses into the airways of 3-day-old rabbits.</jats:p