Amino acids in rinse effluents as a predictor of graft function after transplantation of fatty livers in rats.

Abstract

There are too few reliable markers by which one can predict future function of a liver before implantation. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that amino acids in rinse-effluents could predict transplant outcome in marginal fatty livers from rats. Amino acids were measured in the rinse effluent from the livers immediately after harvest and graft preparation or cold storage. Amino acids in the effluent were twice as high in ethanol-treated animals compared to those in nonfatty controls. Ethanol-treated fatty livers survived for no longer than 7 days after transplantation while 83% of nonfatty controls survived (P < 0.05). In subsequent studies, the cold-storage time was decreased to 6 h to determine whether failing fatty livers released more amino acid than grafts that would function normally. There was a significant increase in amino acids in the effluent of fatty grafts compared to controls. Moreover, the sum of the four selected amino acids (alanine, valine, histidine, leucine) was lower than 23 nmol/g liver in functional livers, whereas failing grafts had totals significantly higher than 25 nmol/g liver. The sum of the four amino acids correlated well with 24 h post-transplant serum AST levels (r = 0.78, P < 0.0001). So we can conclude that amino acid release can serve as a useful marker of graft viability and reliably predicts survival.