Abstract
Although we documented data about cytokines and cellular adhesion molecules,1 they have not been published yet; we presenting them in this chapter. Preoperative and postoperative pulmonary biopsies were withdrawn from the right inferior lobe of the lung following sternotomy and when ventilation of the lungs was restarted, respectively. Pulmonary specimens were stored at −80°C for sequential analysis, first to determine the amount of total messenger mRNA (mRNA) and second to determine amount of three inflammatory markers: interleukin (IL) 4, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1). We chose these markers because IL-4 has anti-inflammatory properties, whereas TNF-α and ICAM-1 have an inflammatory role in lung injury. Furthermore, ICAM-1 is an adhesion molecule associated with the inflammatory role played by neutrophils in pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury.
