Effects of the Oxygen-Carrying Solution OxyVita C on the Cerebral Microcirculation and Systemic Blood Pressures in Healthy Rats

Rania Abutarboush; Chioma Aligbe; Georgina Pappas; Biswajit Saha; Francoise Arnaud; Ashraful Haque; Charles Auker; Richard McCarron; Anke Scultetus; Paula Moon-Massat

doi:10.3390/jfb5040246

Effects of the Oxygen-Carrying Solution OxyVita C on the Cerebral Microcirculation and Systemic Blood Pressures in Healthy Rats

J Funct Biomater. 2014 Nov 18;5(4):246-58. doi: 10.3390/jfb5040246.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. rania.abutarboush@med.navy.mil.
² NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. chioma.aligbe@med.navy.mil.
³ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. georgina.pappas@quinnipiac.edu.
⁴ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. biswajit.saha@med.navy.mil.
⁵ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. francoise.arnaud@med.navy.mil.
⁶ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. ashraful.haque@med.navy.mil.
⁷ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. richard.mccarron@med.navy.mil.
⁸ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. anke.scultetus@med.navy.mil.
⁹ NeuroTrauma Department, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. pfmoon@hotmail.com.

Abstract

The use of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) as oxygen delivering therapies during hypoxic states has been hindered by vasoconstrictive side effects caused by depletion of nitric oxide (NO). OxyVita C is a promising oxygen-carrying solution that consists of a zero-linked hemoglobin polymer with a high molecular weight (~17 MDa). The large molecular weight is believed to prevent extravasation and limit NO scavenging and vasoconstriction. The aim of this study was to assess vasoactive effects of OxyVita C on systemic blood pressures and cerebral pial arteriole diameters. Anesthetized healthy rats received four intravenous (IV) infusions of an increasing dose of OxyVita C (2, 25, 50, 100 mg/kg) and hemodynamic parameters and pial arteriolar diameters were measured pre- and post-infusion. Normal saline was used as a volume-matched control. Systemic blood pressures increased (P ≤ 0.05) with increasing doses of OxyVita C, but not with saline. There was no vasoconstriction in small (<50 µm) and medium-sized (50-100 µm) pial arterioles in the OxyVita C group. In contrast, small and medium-sized pial arterioles vasoconstricted in the control group. Compared to saline, OxyVita C showed no cerebral vasoconstriction after any of the four doses evaluated in this rat model despite increases in blood pressure.