Protective effect of continuous hypothermic oxygenated mechanical perfusion on liver graft of mice from donation after cardiac death

Objective To study protective effect of continuous hypothermic oxygenated mechanical perfusion on liver graft of mice from donation after cardiac death ( DCD) . Methods According to different perfusion and storage methods,male ICR mice were divided into fresh liver / cryopreservation ( FC) group,DCD liver / cryopreservation ( DC) group and DCD liver / hypothermic oxygenated mechanical perfusion ( DP) group ( 6 mice in each group) . After hypothermic perfusion and preservation of liver grafts for 6 hours,University of Wisconsin ( UW) solution was collected and the levels of alanine aminotransferase ( ALT ) and aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) were measured. The hepatic tissues of mice in three groups were cut into sections. The pathological changes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin ( HE ) stain under optical microscope. The apoptosis of hepatic cell of mice in three groups was observed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling ( TUNEL) . Results After preservation for 6 hours,the contents of ALT and AST inUW solution of DC and DP group were significantly higher than those in FC group ( all in P 0. 01) . And the contents of ALT and AST in DP group were significantly lower than those in DC group ( all in P 0. 01 ) . Under optical microscope,no significant necrosis was observed in FC group. Severe damage of hepatic cells was observed in DC group. And no significant damage and necrosis was observed in DP group. Under fluorescence microscope,mild apoptosis of hepatic cells was observed in FC and DP group. Severe irregular shape and apoptosis of hepatic cells were observed in DC group. Conclusions Continuous hypothermic oxygenated mechanical perfusion can alleviate the damage and apoptosis of hepatic cells,which can be a new method for the study of organ preservation of DCD liver transplantation.