Experimental orthotopic lung transplantation model in rats with cold storage.

This report describes a new experimental procedure, a rat unilateral, orthotopic lung transplantation with cold storage, and evaluates its relevancy and reliability to study the early events during cold ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. This model, using the cuff technique, does not require extensive training and is relatively easy to be established. The model can induce reproducible degrees of pulmonary graft injury including impaired gas exchange, proinflammatory cytokine upregulation, or inflammatory infiltrates, depending on the preservation time. The results are consistent with the previous clinical evidence, thus suggesting that this model is a valid and reliable animal model of cold I/R injury.