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BACKGROUND: Endothelial glycocalyx (EG) plays a crucial role in maintaining the plasma proteins within the intravascular space. OBJECTIVE: We studied whether exogenous albumin protects the EG in an experimental model of EG enzymatic damage in rats. METHODS: Rats were divided into three groups of 10 animals that received (1) Evans blue (2) Evans blue + hyaluronidase, or (3) Evans blue + hyaluronidase + 20% human albumin via the tail vein. Spectrophotometric analysis was performed 2 h later to quantify the leakage of Evans blue-labeled albumin into the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, liver, small intestine, spleen, and skeletal muscle. RESULTS: Administration of hyaluronidase numerically increased the capillary leakage of Evans blue in all examined tissues. Co-administration of albumin decreased the leakage of albumin in all tissues except the heart. In the lungs, the ratio between the absorbance and dry organ weight decreased from 5.3 ± 2.4 to 1.7 ± 0.5 (mean ± SD) (P < 0.002), and in the liver, the absorbance decreased from 2.2 ± 0.7 to 1.5 ± 0.4 (P < 0.011). CONCLUSION: Exogenous albumin decreased the capillary leakage of albumin which was interpreted as a sign of maintained EG integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Endothelial glycocalyx (EG) is a carbohydrate-rich vascular lining of the apical surface of endothelial cells. It has been proved to have an essential role in vascular homeostasis. Lipid emulsions as part of parenteral nutrition (PN) are widely used in patients in the setting of critical care and perioperative medicine. Due to their structure, lipids may potentially interact with EG. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of lipid emulsion on EG. OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of lipid emulsion on EG integrity in ICU patients using a videomicroscopic and biochemical methods. METHODS: Patients in surgical ICU after major abdominal surgery or cardio surgery and in general ICU were assessed for eligibility for this pilot observational study in University Hospital. The study was performed during the first day of adding lipids as a part of their PN. The patients were given the SMOFlipid 20% for 6 hours in prescribed dose of approx. 1 g/kg of body weight. EG integrity was measured indirectly by automated sublingual videomicroscopy calculating a parameter PBR which describes the amount of lateral deviation of red blood cells from the central column and by levels of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 in plasma as EG degradational products. Measurements were performed before lipid administration (T0) and 30 minutes after (T6) the infusion of lipid emulsion was completed. The statistical analysis was performed at the level of significance p < 0.05, data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and for PBR as median and interquartile range (IQR). RESULTS: Fifteen patients were studied, from them 9 included in final analysis. PBR (expressed in μm) increased after the lipid infusion with no statistical significance (T0 = 2.10; 1.97–2.33 vs. 2.28; 2.11–2.45, p = 0.13). At T6 both syndecans showed statistically significant decrease in their particular levels. Syndecan–1 at T0 = 2580±1013 ng/l, resp. at T6 = 2365±1077 ng/l, p = 0.02; syndecan–4 at T0 = 134±29 ng/l, resp. at T6 = 123±43 ng/l, p = 0.04. CONCLUSION: In our study, we showed that six hours long SMOFlipid 20% infusion had no detrimental effect on the EG integrity as assessed by PBR value and by syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 plasmatic levels. Observed decrease of syndecans shortly after lipid infusion allows us to hypothesize even possibly protecting effect of lipids on EG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human organism is exposed daily to many endogenous and exogenous substances that are the source of oxidative damage. Oxidative damage is one of the most frequent types of cell component damage, leading to oxidation of lipids, proteins, and the DNA molecule. The predominance of these damaging processes may later be responsible for human diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or heart failure. Anesthetics undoubtedly belong to the group of substances harming DNA integrity. The goal of this pilot study is to evaluate the range of DNA damage by general and neuraxial spinal anesthesia in two groups of patients undergoing orthopedic traumatological surgery. Each group contained 20 patients, and blood samples were collected before and after anesthesia; the degree of DNA damage was evaluated by the comet assay method. Our results suggest that general anesthesia can cause statistically significant damage to the DNA of patients, whereas neuraxial anesthesia has no negative influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that providing basic life support (BLS) may be limited by the physical capabilities of rescuers. The other factor that may affect BLS quality is its energy expenditure. Therefore, we decided to compare the energy expenditure of standard BLS with a compression-ventilation ratio of 30:2 (S-BLS) and compression-only BLS (CO-BLS) and assess the sensation of fatigue and perceived exertion associated with these activities. Methods. We conducted a simulation study on 10 healthy volunteers using a resuscitation manikin. Participants were randomly assigned to start with CO-BLS or with SBLS, in accordance with recent guidelines. Later, every individual provided the other type of BLS. BLS was terminated in the event of exhaustion, impossibility to retain high-quality BLS or after 30 minutes of BLS. Energy expenditure was expressed as relative oxygen consumption (VO2/ kg) and area under the curve of all VO2/ kg measurements during each BLS procedure indexed to one minute (AUCVO2/kg min). All participants completed a survey to assess perceived intensity of exertion by Borg, and sensation of general fatigue by visual analogue scale. Results. Maximal VO2/kg (23.16±3.94 vs. 20.17±2.14 ml/kg/min, p=0.049) and AUCVO2/kg min (18.90±3.13 vs. 15.91±2.07 ml/min3; p=0.021) during SBLS were significantly higher compared to CO-BLS. Conversely, a more intense rate of perceived exertion (16.6±2.0 vs. 13.8±1.2, p=0.001) and sensation of general fatigue (86.5±10.8 vs. 75.0±14.3, p=0.058) were associated with CO-BLS. Neither sensation of general fatigue, nor perceived exertion correlated with energy expenditure. Conclusions. Energy expenditure of S-BLS was higher than of CO-BLS in our study, while sensation of fatigue and perceived exertion reflected the opposite association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]