Effect of ischemia reperfusion injury before partial hepatectomy on liver regeneration in rats

Objective To investigate the effects of ischemia reperfusion injury before partial hepatectomy on liver regeneration in rats. Methods Seventy-five male healthy SD rats were randomly classified into 5 groups: group control, in which rats were only subjected to 70% hepatectomy; group I10R30, 70% liver hepatectomy after 10 min of ischemia and 30 min of reperfusion in the resected liver; By analogy, group I60R30, group I90R30 and group I90R60 were constructed. At 6th, 12th and 24th h after operation, RLW was determined; serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activities were measured by using autoanalyzer; the levels of serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were determined by ELISA and the expression level of Ki-67 was detected by using immunohistochemical methods in the residual liver tissues. Results At 12th h after partial hepatectomy, the rate of RLW in group I60R30, group I90R30 and group I90R60 was (1.80±0.03)%, (1.82±0.10)%, (1.87±0.05)% respectively; the rate of Ki-67 was (58.35±2.18)%, (59.73±3.06)%, (62.65±2.24)% respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the group control (P<0.05). The levels of ALT and AST in rats with ischemia reperfusion injury were higher than in the group control (P<0.05). At 6th h and 12th h after operation, the expression levels of TNF-α in groups I60R30, I90R30 and I90R60 were significantly higher than those in the group control (P<0.05). Conclusion Ischemia reperfusion injury in the resected liver before partial hepatectomy could improve liver regeneration of the remnant liver in rats. The high expression of induced TNF-α may be one of the reasons. Key words: Liver regeneration;  Ischemia-reperfusion;  Hepatectomy