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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Reduced Complications after Arterial Reconnection in a Rat Model of Orthotopic Liver Transplantation
Published on: November 7, 2020
Splenic artery ligation ameliorates hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury in rats
Koji Ito1, Hisashi Ozasa, Yumi Noda
1Department of Pathological Biochemistry, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
Background/Aims:
Hepatic injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is a key clinical problem associated with liver transplantation and liver surgery. The spleen is involved in hepatic I/R injury. In this study, we examined the effects of splenic artery ligation on hepatic I/R injury.
Methods:
Splenic artery ligation was performed 7 days, 3 days, or just before the hepatic ischemia. Hepatic ischemia was conducted by occluding the blood vessels to the median and left lateral lobes with an atraumatic vascular clamp. Hepatic I/R injury was induced by 45 min of ischemia followed by 120 min of reperfusion.
Results:
When splenic artery ligation was performed at 3 days or just before the ischemia, serum aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase activities, as markers for hepatic injury, decreased as compared with the rats with I/R alone. Splenic artery ligation also reduced the myeloperoxidase activity, an enzyme present in neutrophils, and the expression of interleukin-6 mRNA, a proinflammatory cytokine, in rat livers with I/R. Efficacy of splenic artery ligation on hepatic I/R injury was also confirmed by histology. On the other hand, when splenic artery ligation was conducted 7 days before the ischemia, efficacy of splenic artery ligation was disappeared.
Conclusions:
Splenic artery ligation ameliorates hepatic I/R injury in rats. These results strongly suggest the clinical usefulness of this surgical procedure to protect the liver against I/R injury.
