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Updated: Dec 30, 2025
Organ Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Simulating Hemodynamic Changes in Rat Liver Transplant Model
Published on: March 6, 2021
Donor Brain Death Leads to a Worse Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Biliary Injury After Liver Transplantation in Rats
Sanyang Chen1, Hongbo Fang2, Jie Li2
1Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China; Henen Key Laboratory of Digestive Organ Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China; Open and Key Laboratory of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery Digestive Organ Transplantation at Henan University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China; Zheng Zhou Key Laboratory of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases and Organ Transplantation, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
Background:
Brain-dead (BD) donor is the main source for liver transplantation (LT). We aim to investigate the effect of brain death on donor liver inflammatory activity and its association with ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury and biliary tract injury after LT.
Material And Method:
A brain death model using male Lewis rats was established, in both BD and non-BD groups; livers were harvested for transplantation using a 2-cuff technique. The rats were sacrificed 12 hours (n = 10) or 4 weeks (n = 10) after transplantation. I/R injury and long-term biliary tract injury were observed after transplantation.
Results:
All rats survived for 4 weeks after transplantation. At 12 hours after BD-donor LT (BDDLT), liver injury worsened; serum transaminases, bilirubin, oxidative stress, inflammatory responses and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining level substantially increased (P < .05). At 4 weeks after BDDLT, serum bilirubin and bile lactate dehydrogenase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase levels were elevated (P < .05). Biliary fibrosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were detectable and NDRG1 gene expression was decreased.
Conclusions:
These results suggested that brain death-induced inflammatory response in donor organs and resulted in a worse I/R injury and biliary tract injury after LT in rats. The brain death-related biliary tract injury may be associated with the regulation of EMT through NDRG1.
