Role of platelet-activating factor in pulmonary edema after coronary ligation in dogs.

To evaluate whether PAF is related to the precipitation of pulmonary edema after myocardial ischemia, we studied the effect of a specific PAF antagonist, CV-6209, on the extravascular lung water level measured by the thermal-dye double indicator dilution method, ETV, after coronary ligation in dogs. Eight dogs served as sham control animals (group 1). The proximal left anterior descending coronary artery was ligated for 45 min in eight dogs (group 2), and the coronary artery was ligated after pretreatment with CV-6209 (1 mg/kg) in eight dogs (group 3). The ETV increased significantly after coronary ligation in groups 2 and 3. The amount of increase in ETV in group 2 was significantly larger than in group 3. Thus, CV-6209 can prevent the accumulation of extravascular lung water after coronary ligation without producing changes in pulmonary vascular dynamics, indicating that PAF may play an important role in pulmonary edema after myocardial ischemia.