Levosimendan Administration in Limb Ischemia: Multicomponent Signaling Serving Kidney Protection

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Acute renal failure is a severe complication of lower extremity major arterial reconstructions, which could even be fatal. Levosimendan is a dual-acting positive inotropic and vasodilatory agent, which is suspected to have protective effects against cardiac ischemia. However, there is no data available on lower limb or remote organ ischemic injuries therefore the aim of the study was to investigate the effect of levosimendan on lower limb ischemia-reperfusion injury and the corollary renal dysfunction. METHODS: Male Wistar rats underwent 180 min bilateral lower limb ischemia followed by 4 or 24 hours of reperfusion. Intravenous Levosimendan was administered continuously (0.2mug/bwkg/min) throughout the whole course of ischemia and the first 3h of reperfusion. Results were compared with sham-operated and ischemia-reperfusion groups. Hemodynamic monitoring was performed by invasive arterial blood pressure measurement. Kidney and lower limb muscle microcirculation was registered by a laser Doppler flowmeter. After 4h and 24h of reperfusion, serum, urine and histological samples were collected. RESULTS: Systemic hemodynamic parameters and microcirculation of kidney and the lower limb significantly improved in the Levosimendan treated group. Muscle viability was significantly preserved 4 and 24 hours after reperfusion. At the same time, renal functional laboratory tests and kidney histology demonstrated significantly less expressive kidney injury in Levosimendan groups. TNF-alpha levels were significantly less elevated in the Levosimendan group 4 hours after reperfusion. CONCLUSION: The results claim a protective role for Levosimendan administration during major vascular surgeries to prevent renal complications

Characterization of rheological properties of rye arabinoxylans in buckwheat model systems

The aim of this investigation was to study the rheological properties (gelation profile, mixing and pastingproperties) of two rye arabinoxylans (AXs) (water-extracted (WEAXs), calcium hydroxide-extracted (CEAXs)) in buckwheat model systems using wholemeal and white flour. To promote gelation in these systems, pyranose 2-oxidase (POx) was added. AX characterization in solution showed a higher gelation profile for the CEAXs (G\u2019: 0.48 Pa, G\u2019\u2019: 0.25 Pa) compared with the WEAXs (G\u2019: 0.21 Pa, G\u2019\u2019: 0.14 Pa), probably due to differences in chemical and structural properties. In buckwheat batter systems, highest rheological properties were achieved when POx was added to the control flours (for wholemeal flour: G\u2019: 40.1 kPa, G\u2019\u2019: 8.6 kPa; for white flour: G\u2019: 18.7 kPa, G\u2019\u2019: 1.4 kPa), whereas most AX concentrations improved these properties to a lower degree. Nearly all wholemeal flour systems reached higher viscoelastic properties when containing CEAXs (G\u2019: 20.0e35.1 kPa; G\u2019\u2019: 4.2e6.7 kPa), while WEAXs improved the majority of these properties in systems made with white flour (G\u2019: 10.4e12.7 kPa; G\u2019\u2019: 2.2-2.3 kPa). No additional effect was seen in the batter viscoelasticity when POx was combined with these AXs. Pasting and mixing properties of the flour systems were mostly reduced by the addition of AXs, while the presence of POx displayed little or no further effect. These observations indicate that AXs could be applied as natural structure-forming agents in GF bread, when used in the right amount