Combined intestine-auxiliary liver transplantation in rats / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the long-term effect of combined intestine/auxiliary liver transplantation in rat.Methods Male Lewis rats were used. Total small bowel and 60 % liver were transplanted en bloc with an aortic segment that contained the celiac axis and superior mesenteric artery ensuring the blood supply to the graft. The end-to-side anastomosis was made between donor infrahepatic vena cava (IHVC) and recipient IHVC. The recipient small bowel was resected and the intestine continuity was restored. Sham control (laporotomy only) and transplantation groups were included. Ten rats in each group were followed-up for 18 months and then sacrificed. Liver function tests, terminal deoxynuleotidyl transferase-mediated 2'-deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate (dUTP) nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining of liver tissue were evaluated.Results Sixteen rats survived over the operation. There were no significant differences in liver function tests between the sham control group and transplantation group. The grafted liver was hypertrophic and native liver did not regenerate 18 months following transplantation with an increased liver/body weight ratio. TUNEL-staining showed no significant differences among grafted liver, native liver of the recipient rat in transplantation group and the liver of the rat in control group. PCNA-staining revealed that the native liver in transplantation group had a lower proportion of TUNEL-positive hepatocytes. Conclusion This experimental study confirmed the long-term consequences of combined intestine-auxiliary liver transplantation, and the results suggest that liver/body weight ratio can be increased.