To assess the integrity of the pulmonary vascular compartment, we measured Syndecan-1 levels as a marker of endothelial glycocaylx disruption. Syndecan-1 levels were significantly lower in perfusate samples from transplanted donor lungs: mean (T) = 111 (pg/ml) (SD 98, n = 24) compared to mean (NT) = 281 (pg/ml) (SD 219, n = 40) [t(62) = 4.14, P < 0.001] (Fig. 3).
Figure 3: Protein expressions in perfusate and BALF from transplanted and non-transplanted EVLP donor lungs. Interleaved scatter plots with molecular marker levels expressed in (pg/ml) and lines representing means. *P<0.1. **P<0.05. ***P<0.001. BALF: bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; EVLP: ex vivo lung perfusion; IL: interleukin; TNF-α: tumour necrosis factor alpha; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; HMGB-1: high-mobility group box-1.