Pre-Treatment of Transplant Donors with Hydrogen Sulfide to Protect against Warm and Cold Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Kidney and Other Transplantable Solid Organs

Liam McFarlane; Pierce Nelson; George J Dugbartey; Alp Sener

doi:10.3390/ijms24043518

Pre-Treatment of Transplant Donors with Hydrogen Sulfide to Protect against Warm and Cold Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Kidney and Other Transplantable Solid Organs

Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 9;24(4):3518. doi: 10.3390/ijms24043518.

Authors

Liam McFarlane^{1

2}, Pierce Nelson^{1

2}, George J Dugbartey^{1

3

4

5}, Alp Sener^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Matthew Mailing Center for Translational Transplant Studies, London Health Sciences Center, Western University, London, ON N6A 5A5, Canada.
² Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada.
³ Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, London Health Sciences Center, Western University, London, ON N6A 5A5, Canada.
⁴ Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Center, University Hospital, London, ON N6A 5A5, Canada.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra P.O. Box LG43, Ghana.

Abstract

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), a pathological condition resulting from prolonged cessation and subsequent restoration of blood flow to a tissue, is an inevitable consequence of solid organ transplantation. Current organ preservation strategies, such as static cold storage (SCS), are aimed at reducing IRI. However, prolonged SCS exacerbates IRI. Recent research has examined pre-treatment approaches to more effectively attenuate IRI. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), the third established member of a family of gaseous signaling molecules, has been shown to target the pathophysiology of IRI and thus appears to be a viable candidate that can overcome the transplant surgeon's enemy. This review discusses pre-treatment of renal grafts and other transplantable organs with H₂S to mitigate transplantation-induced IRI in animal models of transplantation. In addition, ethical principles of pre-treatment and potential applications of H₂S pre-treatment in the prevention of other IRI-associated conditions are discussed.

Keywords: hydrogen sulfide (H2S); ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI); pre-treatment; sodium thiosulfate (STS); solid organ transplantation (SOT).

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Humans
Hydrogen Sulfide* / pharmacology
Kidney / pathology
Kidney Transplantation*
Reperfusion Injury* / pathology
Tissue Donors

Substances

Hydrogen Sulfide

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Lawson Internal Research Fund and Department of Surgery Research Fund at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.