Objective: We attempted to clarify the effect of immunoglobulin concentrates on the rat lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) model.
Design: Prospective, comparative, experimental study.
Setting: Laboratory at a university hospital.
Subjects: Male Wistar rats, aged 6 to 7 wks and weighing 160 to 170 g.
Interventions: Two kinds of experiments were performed. In the first, experimental DIC was induced by sustained infusion of 30 mg/kg LPS for 4 hrs via the tail vein, and two doses of immunoglobulin (25 or 100 mg/kg/4.5 hrs) were administered to rats 30 mins before infusion of LPS, after which immunoglobulin infusion was continued for a further 4 hrs. In the second, experimental DIC was induced by sustained infusion (5 mg/kg/1 hr) of LPS for 1 hr, and one dose of immunoglobulin (100 mg/kg/4 hrs) was administered to rats after LPS induction. The parameters were estimated at 4 hrs and 8 hrs in the first experiment and at 1, 5, and 10 hrs in the second one.
Measurement and main results: Similar results were observed in the two experiments. Consumption coagulopathy and hemostatic activation were attenuated, especially when immunoglobulin was administered before LPS infusion. Plasma levels of creatinine and alanine aminotransferase were significantly depressed by coadministration of immunoglobulin. Marked glomerular fibrin deposition was observed in the LPS-induced DIC model, but this deposition was reduced by immunoglobulin. In the first stage of the experiment, plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-6 were suppressed by coadministration of immunoglobulin. In the second, plasma levels of IL-6 were significantly suppressed by immunoglobulin.
Conclusion: It was concluded that plasma levels of TNF and IL-6 could be significantly suppressed by immunoglobulin in the LPS-induced DIC model. Moreover, hemostatic abnormality, organ dysfunction, and glomerular fibrin deposition in this model were all ameliorated by immunoglobulin.