Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026
Porcine Liver Transplantation Without Veno-Venous Bypass As an Extended Criteria Donor Model
Published on: August 17, 2022
Inflammatory cytokines during liver transplantation: prospective randomized trial comparing conventional and
Carlos Eduardo Sandoli Baía1, Edson Abdala, Paulo Massarollo
1Liver Unit, Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia, S. Paulo, Brazil.
Background/Aims:
Cytokines have a significant role in the response to injury following liver transplantation, but the origin and course of such molecules are not completely known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the production and liver metabolism of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, interferon (IFN)-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), comparing the conventional and the piggyback methods.
Methodology:
We performed a study of 30 patients who underwent elective OLT and were randomized for the conventional or piggyback techniques at the beginning of the operation. The amount of cytokines and their hepatic metabolism were calculated based on plasma concentrations and vascular blood flow at 2, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after revascularization.
Results:
The amount of IL-11 in portal blood was higher in patients who underwent surgery using the conventional technique (estimate interest = 63,783.9 +/-16,586.1 pg/min, versus 11,979.6 +/-16,585.7 pg/min in the piggyback group, p = 0.035). There were no significant differences between the two operative's methods for IL-6, IL-8, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production. The hepatic metabolism of cytokines was not different between groups. Although all the curves showed higher amounts of cytokines with the conventional technique, these were not statistically significant.
Conclusion:
The study shows the similarity between the two techniques concerning the stimuli for the production of inflammatory molecules.
