Assessment of the inflammatory effect of low-dose oxygen in mechanically ventilated patients

The influence of active and passive air humidification on exhaled breath condensate volume

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is safely collected in mechanically ventilated (MV) patients, but there are no guidelines regarding humidification of inhaled air during EBC collection. We investigated the influence of active and passive air humidification on EBC volumes obtained from MV patients. We collected 29 EBC samples from 21 critically ill MV patients with one condition of active humidification and four different conditions of non-humidification; 19 samples from 19 surgical MV patients with passive humidification and two samples from artificial lungs MV with active humidification. The main outcome was the obtained EBC volume per 100 L exhaled air. When collected with different conditions of non-humidification, mean [95% CI] EBC volumes did not differ significantly (1.35 [1.23; 1.46] versus 1.16 [1.05; 1.28] versus 1.27 [1.13; 1.41] versus 1.17 [1.00; 1.33] mL/100 L, p=0.114). EBC volumes were higher with active humidification than with non-humidification (2.05 [1.91; 2.19] versus 1.25 [1.17; 1.32] mL/100 L, p<0.001). The volume difference between these corresponded to the EBC volume obtained from artificial lungs (0.81 [0.62; 0.99] versus 0.89 mL/100 L, p=0.287). EBC volumes were lower for surgical MV patients with passive humidification compared to critically ill MV patients with non-humidification (0.55 [0.47; 0.63] versus 1.25 [1.17; 1.32] mL/100 L, p<0.001). While active humidification increases EBC volumes, passive humidification decreases EBC volumes and possibly influences EBC composition by other mechanisms. We propose that EBC should be collected from MV patients without air humidification to improve reproducibility and comparability across studies, and that humidification conditions should always be reported.

Hyperoxia provokes a time- and dose-dependent inflammatory response in mechanically ventilated mice, irrespective of tidal volumes

Background

Mechanical ventilation and hyperoxia have the potential to independently promote lung injury and inflammation. Our purpose was to study both time- and dose-dependent effects of supplemental oxygen in an experimental model of mechanically ventilated mice.

Methods

Healthy male C57Bl/6J mice, aged 9–10 weeks, were intraperitoneally anesthetized and randomly assigned to the mechanically ventilated group or the control group. In total, 100 mice were tracheotomized and mechanically ventilated for either 8 or 12 h after allocation to different settings for the applied fractions of inspired oxygen (FiO₂, 30, 50, or 90%) and tidal volumes (7.5 or 15 ml/kg). After euthanisation arterial blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALf) and tissues were collected for analyses.

Results

Mechanical ventilation significantly increased the lung injury score (P < 0.05), mean protein content (P < 0.001), and the mean number of cells (P < 0.01), including neutrophils in BALf (P < 0.001). In mice ventilated for 12 h, a significant increase in TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-10, and MCP-1 (P < 0.01) was observed with 90% FiO₂, whereas IL-6 showed a decreasing trend (P for trend = 0.03) across FiO₂ groups. KC, MIP-2, and sRAGE were similar between FiO₂ groups. HMGB-1 was significantly higher in BALf of mechanically ventilated mice compared to controls and showed a gradual increase in expression with increasing FiO₂. Cytokine and chemokine levels in BALf did not markedly differ between FiO₂ groups after 8 h of ventilation. Differences between the tidal volume groups were small and did not appear to significantly interact with the oxygen levels.

Conclusions

We demonstrated a severe vascular leakage and a pro-inflammatory pulmonary response in mechanically ventilated mice, which was enhanced by severe hyperoxia and longer duration of mechanical ventilation. Prolonged ventilation with high oxygen concentrations induced a time-dependent immune response characterized by elevated levels of neutrophils, cytokines, and chemokines in the pulmonary compartment.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40635-017-0142-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Early effect of tidal volume on lung injury biomarkers in surgical patients with healthy lungs

BACKGROUND

The early biological impact of short-term mechanical ventilation on healthy lungs is unknown. The authors aimed to characterize the immediate tidal volume (VT)-related changes on lung injury biomarkers in patients with healthy lungs and low risk of pulmonary complications.

METHODS

Twenty-eight healthy patients for knee replacement surgery were prospectively randomized to volume-controlled ventilation with VT 6 (VT6) or 10 (VT10) ml/kg predicted body weight. General anesthesia and other ventilatory parameters (positive end-expiratory pressure, 5 cm H2O, FIO2, 0.5, respiratory rate titrated for normocapnia) were managed similarly in the two groups. Exhaled breath condensate and blood samples were collected for nitrite, nitrate, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukins-1β, -6, -8, -10, -11, neutrophil elastase, and Clara Cell protein 16 measurements, at the onset of ventilation and 60 min later.

RESULTS

No significant differences in biomarkers were detected between the VT groups at any time. The coefficient of variation of exhaled breath condensate nitrite and nitrate decreased in the VT6 but increased in the VT10 group after 60-min ventilation. Sixty-minute ventilation significantly increased plasma neutrophil elastase levels in the VT6 (35.2 ± 30.4 vs. 56.4 ± 51.7 ng/ml, P = 0.008) and Clara Cell protein 16 levels in the VT10 group (16.4 ± 8.8 vs. 18.7 ± 9.5 ng/ml, P = 0.015). Exhaled breath condensate nitrite correlated with plateau pressure (r = 0.27, P = 0.042) and plasma neutrophil elastase (r = 0.44, P = 0.001). Plasma Clara Cell protein 16 correlated with compliance (r = 0.34, P = 0.014).

CONCLUSIONS

No tidal volume-related changes were observed in the selected lung injury biomarkers of patients with healthy lungs after 60-min ventilation. Plasma neutrophil elastase and plasma Clara Cell protein 16 might indicate atelectrauma and lung distention, respectively.