Inflammatory Signalling Associated with Brain Dead Organ Donation: From Brain Injury to Brain Stem Death and Posttransplant Ischaemia Reperfusion Injury

Brain death is associated with dramatic and serious pathophysiologic changes that adversely affect both the quantity and quality of organs available for transplant. To fully optimise the donor pool necessitates a more complete understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of organ dysfunction asso...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ryan P. Watts, Ogilvie Thom, John F. Fraser
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:Journal of Transplantation
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/521369
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Brain death is associated with dramatic and serious pathophysiologic changes that adversely affect both the quantity and quality of organs available for transplant. To fully optimise the donor pool necessitates a more complete understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of organ dysfunction associated with transplantation. These injurious processes are initially triggered by catastrophic brain injury and are further enhanced during both brain death and graft transplantation. The activated inflammatory systems then contribute to graft dysfunction in the recipient. Inflammatory mediators drive this process in concert with the innate and adaptive immune systems. Activation of deleterious immunological pathways in organ grafts occurs, priming them for further inflammation after engraftment. Finally, posttransplantation ischaemia reperfusion injury leads to further generation of inflammatory mediators and consequent activation of the recipient’s immune system. Ongoing research has identified key mediators that contribute to the inflammatory milieu inherent in brain dead organ donation. This has seen the development of novel therapies that directly target the inflammatory cascade.
ISSN:2090-0007
2090-0015