N-octanoyl dopamine donor treatment in a brain death model in rats improves both donor and graft left ventricular function after heart transplantation

Objectives: Heart transplantation became the most effective treatment for end-stage heart failure. Donors after brain death are currently the only reliable source for cardiac transplants. However, hemodynamic instability and cardiac dysfunction have been demonstrated in brain-dead (BD) donors and this could therefore also affect the graft response after heart transplantation. N-octanoyl dopamine (NOD), a novel dopamine derivate, has been shown to protect tissue against hypothermic preservation. We tested the hypothesis that treatment of the BD donor with NOD improves both donor cardiac and graft function after heart transplantation.