Figure 1
Design of the study. (A) Cannulation strategy used for experimental veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the rat. The animals were endotracheally intubated and ventilated. The right atrium was cannulated via the jugular vein for venous blood drainage. Venous blood passed through the ECMO device and the oxygenized and carbon dioxide cleared blood was returned via the femoral artery. A pressure volume catheter was placed into the left ventricle through the right carotid artery. The peripheral blood pressure was measured in the tail artery. The lateral tail vein was punctured for infusion of medicaments and the test substances under investigation. (B) Graphical visualization of the time course of the experiments. Rats were anesthetized and treated with the conopeptide RgIA4 or vehicle, which were given as a bolus followed by continuous infusion. α1-antitrypsin (AAT) or vehicle were applied by syringe pump over 5 min. Thereafter, veno-arterial ECMO was started and hemodynamic monitoring as well as blood sampling was done for 2 h. Thereafter, animals were sacrificed. The same procedure was applied to sham-treated animals, but the ECMO was omitted.
