[Warm ischemia and reperfusion injury in the regenerating rat liver]

The effect of warm ischemia and reperfusion injury in the regenerating rat liver after portal vein branch ligation (PBL) was examined by monitoring hepatic high energy phosphorous metabolism using in vivo Phosphorus-31 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (31P-MRS). On 14 days after 70% occlusion of the portal vein, energy metabolism of non-occluded lobe of the liver was evaluated by measuring the ratio of beta-ATP to Pi obtained using 31P-MRS. During 30min-ischemia, beta-ATP/Pi dropped down similarly below the limit of observation in both of control and regenerating liver. However, after reperfusion, in the regenerating liver, the earlier and better recovery of beta-ATP/Pi was observed compared with the control. In the any examination of m-GOT, GPT, increase in enzyme level was apparently restrained in the PBL group. On the pathological examination, centrilobular necrosis and hepatocyte degeneration were remarkable in the normal liver, while in the regenerating liver, these changes were slight. In conclusion, these results suggest that reperfusion injury observed in the regenerating liver seems to be reduced compared with that in the normal liver. Functional and structural changes in the regenerating liver could be claimed as a course of this observation. However, to understand the mechanism, further study will be needed both in morphological and biochemical aspect.