Lung–brain ‘cross-talk’: systemic propagation of cytokines in the ARDS via the bloodstream using a blood transfusion model does not influence cerebral inflammatory response in pigs

BACKGROUND: Interorgan cross-talk describes the phenomenon in which a primarily injured organ causes secondary damage to a distant organ. This cross-talk is well known between the lung and brain. One theory suggests that the release and systemic distribution of cytokines via the bloodstream from the primarily affected organ sets in motion proinflammatory cascades in distant organs. In this study, we analysed the role of the systemic distribution of cytokines via the bloodstream in a porcine ARDS model for organ cross-talk and possible inflammatory changes in the brain. METHODS: After approval of the State and Institutional Animal Care Committee, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) induction with oleic acid injection was performed in seven animals. Eight hours after ARDS induction, blood (35–40 ml kg(–1)) was taken from these seven ‘ARDS donor’ pigs. The collected ‘ARDS donor’ blood was transfused into seven healthy ‘ARDS-recipient’ pigs. Three animals served as a control group, and blood from these animals was transfused into three healthy pigs after an appropriate ventilation period. All animals were monitored for 8 h using advanced cardiorespiratory monitoring. Postmortem assessment included cerebral (hippocampal and cortex) mediators of early inflammatory response (IL-6, TNF-alpha, iNOS, sLCN-2), wet-to-dry ratio and lung histology. TNF-alpha serum concentration was measured in all groups. RESULTS: ARDS was successfully induced in the ‘ARDS donor’ group, and serum TNF-alpha levels were elevated compared with the ‘ARDS-recipient’ group. In the ‘ARDS-recipient’ group, neither significant ARDS alterations nor upregulation of inflammatory mediators in the brain tissue were detected after high-volume random allogenic ‘ARDS-blood’ transfusion. The role of the systemic distribution of inflammatory cytokines from one affected organ to another could not be confirmed in this study.