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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
In vivo Liver Endocytosis Followed by Purification of Liver Cells by Liver Perfusion
Published on: November 10, 2011
Hepatic free radical production after cold storage: Kupffer cell-dependent and -independent mechanisms in rats
1Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
Background/Aims:
Free radicals are important mediators of reperfusion injury; however, the mechanism(s) of oxyradical production after liver reimplantation are not well understood. A model of cold storage and reperfusion using low-level chemiluminescence to directly measure oxyradical production during reperfusion was developed.
Methods:
Rat livers were harvested and stored at 4 degrees C in University of Wisconsin cold-storage solution or Euro-Collins solution for 0-48 hours and then flushed and reperfused with warm oxygenated (37 degrees C) Krebs-Henseleit buffer. Liver chemiluminescence was measured using a sensitive photomultiplier tube, and hepatocellular injury was assessed by measuring aspartate aminotransferase release into the perfusate.
Results:
Chemiluminescence reached a maximum within 5 minutes of reperfusion and then decreased to a baseline within 30 minutes. There was a marked increase in chemiluminescence after only a short period of storage in University of Wisconsin cold-storage solution. Chemiluminescence decreased with longer periods of storage but steadily increased again after 16 hours of storage. Chemiluminescence after 22 hours of storage, but not after 3 hours of storage, was decreased by pretreatment with the Kupffer cell inactivator gadolinium chloride.
Conclusions:
The data suggest two mechanisms of oxyradical production during cold storage and reperfusion of the rat liver. The later phase seems to be Kupffer cell dependent.
