Fixed volume or fixed pressure: a murine model of hemorrhagic shock.

It is common knowledge that severe blood loss and traumatic injury can lead to a cascade of detrimental signaling events often resulting in mortality. These signaling events can also lead to sepsis and/or multiple organ dysfunction (MOD). It is critical then to investigate the causes of suppressed immune function and detrimental signaling cascades in order to develop more effective ways to help patients who suffer from traumatic injuries. This fixed pressure Hemorrhagic Shock (HS) procedure, although technically challenging, is an excellent resource for investigation of these pathophysiologic conditions. Advances in the assessment of biological systems, i.e. Systems Biology have enabled the scientific community to further understand complex physiologic networks and cellular communication patterns. (14) Hemorrhagic Shock has proven to be a vital tool for unveiling these cellular communication patterns as they relate to immune function. This procedure can be mastered! This procedure can also be used as either a fixed volume or fixed pressure approach. We adapted this technique in the murine model to enhance research in innate and adaptive immune function. Due to their small size HS in mice presents unique challenges. However due to the many available mouse strains, this species represents an unparalleled resource for the study of the biologic responses. The HS model is an important model for studying cellular communication patterns and the responses of systems such as hormonal and inflammatory mediator systems, and danger signals, i.e. DAMP and PAMP upregulation as it elicits distinct responses that differ from other forms of shock. The development of transgenic murine strains and the induction of biologic agents to inhibit specific signaling have presented valuable opportunities to further elucidate our understanding of the up and down regulation of signal transduction after severe blood loss, i.e. HS and trauma. There are numerous resuscitation methods (R) in association with HS and trauma. A fixed volume resuscitation method of solely lactated ringer solution (LR), equal to three times the shed blood volume, is used in this model to study endogenous mechanisms such as remote organ injury and systemic inflammation. This method of resuscitation is proven to be effective in evaluating the effects of HS and trauma.