Figure 1.
Cytokine response in brain-dead organ donors. Plasma cytokine concentrations in natural logarithm scale between preload responsive (dashed lines with squares) and preload unresponsive (solid line with diamonds) donors. Baseline represents the cytokine level at enrollment in the study, and 4 hrs is the time following baseline. The cytokine level before organ procurement represents the level just before the explantation of organs. Plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were significantly (p = .0012 and p = .036, respectively) increased in preload responsive donors compared with preload unresponsive donors over time. Log indicates the natural logarithm of individual cytokine levels.