Seventy-two-hour preservation of porcine liver by continuous hypothermic perfusion with UW solution in comparison with simple cold storage

Abstract

Porcine livers preserved for 72 hr using continuous hypothermic perfusion (CHP) were studied in order to compare the effects of CHP on energy metabolism with those of simple cold storage (SCS). The livers of the CHP group were perfused in situ for 72 hr at 7°C with University of Wisconsin (UW) solution and FC-43 as an oxygen carrier, while those of the S1 group were stored ex situ for 48 hr at 4°C in UW solution, and those of the S2 group for 72 hr. They were then recirculated with human blood at 37°C for 2 hr for the evaluation of their viability. At the end of preservation, significantly higher levels of total adenine nucleotides (TAN) and energy charge (EC) were observed in the CHP group compared with the S1 and S2 groups. At 2 hr recirculation, the level of TAN was significantly higher in the CHP group than in the S1 and S2 groups. The EC level was also higher in the CHP group than in the S2 group. During recirculation, the ketone body ratio (acetoacetate/β-hydroxybutyrate) was higher in the CHP group than in the S2 group. The values in the CHP group were above 1.0 after 45 min recirculation. There were no significant differences in the pyruvate/lactate ratio and lactate level between the CHP and S1 groups. However, these values were significantly different from those in the S2 group. The present findings demonstrate that CHP using UW solution and the oxygen carrier was better able to preserve the energy metabolism of the porcine liver for 72 hr than 48-hr SCS in UW solution.