No abstract

We used a gravimetric technique to test for increased pulmonary capillary permeability after Escherichia coli endotoxin infusion in unanesthetized sheep. The sheep were chronically prepared with cannulas placed into the left atrium and pulmonary artery 1-2 wk before the experiments. We estimated pulmonary capillary pressure (Pc) as the average of pulmonary arterial and left atrial pressures, and used the modified method of Pierce to estimate the ratio of extravascular fluid weight (EVF) to blood-free dry weight. In 15 sheep we inflated a left atrial balloon to raise Pc to -10.7, 5, 10, or 15 mmHg above plasma oncotic pressure (IIc) for 3 h, then measured EVF. EVF averaged 4.0 +/- 0.2 (base line), 4.3 +/- 0.1, 4.5 +/- 0.1, and 5.1 +/- 0.5 (SD), respectively, for the four levels of Pc - IIc. We gave seven additional sheep 1 microgram/kg of E. coli endotoxin (0127:B8) and measured EVF after 3 h of stable Pc. Endotoxin increased Pc in each sheep. EVF was higher than control for the endotoxin sheep with Pc - IIc greater than -1. This finding is consistent with an increase in pulmonary capillary permeability caused by endotoxin. However, EVF was not elevated in the endotoxin sheep with Pc - IIc less than 1 mmHg. This shows that the increased permeability was insufficient to cause edema unless Pc was elevated. Thus endotoxin may cause edema by two mechanisms, 1) an increase in capillary permeability, and 2) an increase in Pc.

Many investigators have used the chronic sheep lung lymph preparation to collect caudal mediastinal node (CMN) efferent lymph. These investigators have assumed that the lymph collected with the preparation is almost pure lung lymph. We examined 17 sheep for possible systemic contamination to the lymph, and in each sheep we found one to five lymph vessels that ran from the diaphragm to the CMN. Contamination from these vessels would not be eliminated in the chronic sheep preparation. We estimated the flow rate from these vessels to be 3.0 +/- 2.6 (SD) ml/h in anesthetized sheep. This represents 25-60% of the lymph flow rate in the chronic lymph preparation. In five sheep, we also located 1-4 esophageal lymph vessels that entered th CMN. These results show that lymph collected with the chronic sheep lung lymph preparation contains a significant nonpulmonary contamination.

Intravenous fluid infusions cause increased venous pressure and increased lymph flow throughout the body. Together the increased lymph flow and increased venous pressure (the outflow pressure to the lymphatic system) should increase the pressure within the postnodal intestinal lymphatics. To test this, we measured the pressure in postnodal intestinal lymphatics and the neck vein pressure in five awake sheep. At baseline, the neck vein pressure was 1.2 +/- 1.5 (SD) cmH2O and the lymphatic pressure was 12.5 +/- 1.7 cmH2O. When we infused Ringer solution intravenously (10% body weight in approximately 50 min), the neck vein pressure increased to 17.3 +/- 0.9 cmH2O and the lymphatic pressure increased to 24.6 +/- 3.8 cmH2O (both P < 0.05). In two additional sheep, the thoracic duct lymph flow rate increased from 0.8 +/- 0.4 ml/min at baseline to 5.5 +/- 2.0 ml/min during the infusions. Our results show that postnodal intestinal lymphatic pressure may increase substantially during intravenous fluid infusions. This is important because increases in postnodal lymphatic pressure may slow lymph flow from the intestine.

The liver lymphatic system plays an important role in removing excess fluid from the hepatic tissue. A complete analysis of the liver lymphatic system would be difficult. However, we used a simple circuit-analysis technique to represent the intrahepatic portion of the lymph system as a single pressure source (PL) pushing lymph through a single resistance (RL). Liver lymphatic vessels were cannulated in nine halothane-anesthetized dogs. The lymphatic vessel outflow pressure (PO) was varied by raising the outflow end of the cannula. Lymph flow from the cannula (QL) decreased linearly with PO, and we calculated RL as -delta PO/delta QL and PL as the extrapolated PO at which QL = 0. At base line, PL = 8.5 +/- 2.9 cmH2O, and RL = 0.05 +/- 0.03 cmH2O.min/microliter. After we increased inferior vena caval pressure from 5.8 +/- 2.7 to 15.2 +/- 2.5 cmH2O, PL increased significantly to 13.7 +/- 3.4 cmH2O, and RL decreased to 0.02 +/- 0.02 cmH2O.min/microliter (P less than 0.05). The results indicate that increases in QL occur because the effective pressure pushing lymph from the liver (PL) increases, and the effective resistance of the intrahepatic lymph vessels (RL) decreases.