On perihilar surgery / 中国实用外科杂志

The anatomic relationship between bile duct and portal vein/hepatic artery is complicated in perihilar region. As perihilar surgery is technically demanding, both surgical safety and long-term outcome are not satisfactory. Under the guidance of precision surgery, three kinds of technique,including visualization, quantitation and controlization, are focused. Meanwhile, three principles including vessel priority,bleeding control and limit point control are introduced to improve the development of perihilar surgery. In addition,some new types of operation are potentially important and warranted in the near future.

Analysis on transitional components in blood after oral administration of saffron extracts in rats / 中草药

Objective: To analyze the transitional components in blood after oral administration of saffron extracts in rats, in order to initially reveal in vivo potential effective substance and metabolic process of the main components absorbed into blood. Methods: The constituents of saffron and metabolites in rat plasma sample after oral administration of saffron were investigated using HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn. Results: Eleven chemical constituents in saffron were identified, and four compounds, including one prototype and three metabolites, were detected in rat plasma sample. Among them, picrocrocin was absorbed in prototype, whereas crocins were absorbed in metabolites (crocetin and crocetin-monoglucuronide). Crocin-I and crocin-II, used as quality evaluation of saffron in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, were not discovered at all time points. Picrocrocin achieved a Cmax value at 1 h after administration, while metabolites, crocetin, achieved two Cmax values respectively at 0.5 h and 2 h. Conclusion: Picrocrocin and metabolic products absorbed into blood may be the effective components of saffron. The work may provide a reference for reasonably choosing the quality control index and improving the quality control standards, and may also lay a foundation for further researching the pharmacokinetics of saffron.

Experimental study on tolerance time limits from warm ischemia to cold preservation of liver grafts / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the tolerance time limits from warm ischemia to cold preservation of liver grafts.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Orthotopic liver transplantations (OLTs) were performed on Bama miniature swine. Morphological and functional changes of the liver grafts and biliary tracts after 10 minutes of warm ischemia followed by different durations of cold preservation and its reversibility were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>When the grafts were subjected to 10 minutes of warm ischemia followed by less than 16 hours of cold preservation, all animals could survive 1 week and there was no animal death from biliary necrosis. However, when the cold preservation time exceeded 16 hours, the incidence of biliary necrosis was significantly increased (P<0.05), and recipient death from bile leaks occurred. With further prolongation of the cold preservation time, primary graft nonfunction and intraoperative or early postoperative deaths occurred and the living animals all developed biliary necrosis. When compared with the less than 16 hours cold preservation group, the morphological scores and apoptosis index of the epithelial cells of bile ducts in grafts after reperfusion were significantly elevated in the more than 16 hours cold preservation group (P<0.05) and the activity of Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase of bile ducts in grafts were also significantly reduced (P<0.05). Liver function tests showed that the recoveries of AST, AST, GGT and ALP were quicker in the 16 hours cold preservation group then those over 16 hour preservation ones. Correlation analysis revealed that the incidence of biliary necrosis was significantly correlated with the morphological score (r = 0.972) and with the apoptosis index of the epithelial cells of bile ducts in grafts after reperfusion (r = 0.931) and also correlated negatively (P<0.01) with the activity of Na+-K+-ATPase (r = -0.973) and Ca2+-ATPase (r = -0.973).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>It is concluded that with 10 minutes of warm ischemia, cold preservation of the grafts should not be longer than 16 hours in order to avoid early biliary necrosis, and the corresponding tolerance time limit of the livers to the cold preservation was less than 20 hours.</p>

Tolerance enhancement on the liver ischemia-reperfusion injuries in rats by ethanol pretreatment / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of the ethanol pretreatment. Study was designed to confirm the proper range of the ethanol according to the toxicity and mortality, and then evaluate the possibility of application of the ethanol pretreatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>(1) Thirty six male adult wistar rats pretreated with 40% ethanol were divided randomizely into six groups by different dosage: group A (8 g/kg), group B (7 g/kg), group C (6 g/kg), group D (5 g/kg), group E (4 g/kg), normal control group (0 g/kg). The safe dosage range of ethanol in rats was predicted by the observation of the symptoms after ethanol administration and pathological changes after 24 h. (2) Based on the results of experiment (1), this experiment were set as follows: 78 wistar rats were divided randomizely into 4 groups: normal control group, ethanol group, ischemia/reperfusion group (IR), ethanol pretreatment group (EP), in each group, the specimen were harvested from the rats at 3, 6, 12, 24 h after reperfusion and then were determined by different methods. (3) Based on the three variant factors (concentration, dosage and proper time for ethanol pretreatment), a orthogonal test were designed to optimize the ethanol pretreatment. 54 wistar rats used in this step were all subjected to hepatic schema procedure for 90 min and the specimens were harvested at 24 h after reperfusion.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Less than 5 g/kg ethanol is safe to the rat, and it can reduce the 90 minutes IR injuries to the liver. Under the mode of A1B1C3, the more protection can be got for hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injuries.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Proper dose of ethanol gavages to the rat is a safe pretreatment method, it maybe enhance the tolerance of rat liver to the I/R injuries.</p>