Abstract:

Objective To explore the method of repairing donor liver from donation after cardiac death （DCD）in vitro，using BMMSCs combined with normal mechanical perfusion（NMP）at room temperature to study the effect on the liver after cardiac death. Methods BMMSCs were cultured in vitro and the DCD rat model was established with a warm ischemia time of 45 min after cardiac death. Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: group A（cold storage）, group B（NMP alone）and group C（NMP + BMMSCs）. All the livers were preserved for 4 h （n ＝ 5）. Alanine aminotransferase（ALT）and aspartate transaminase（AST）in the circulating fluid were detected by a blood biochemical instrument, and the histological presentations of the livers were showed by a hematoxylineosin（HE）staining. Oxygen consumption was measured by a blood gas analyzer. Results The levels of ALT and AST in group C were significantly lower than those in group B（ALT ：t ＝ 177.98，P ＜ 0.05 ；AST ：t ＝ 284.38, P ＜ 0.05）or group A（ALT ：t ＝ 3 100.39，P ＜ 0.05 ；AST ：t ＝ 192.88，P ＜ 0.05）. The oxygen consumption of group C was significantly higher than that of group B after preservation for 1 h（4 h ：t ＝ 22.90，P ＜ 0.05）. Histological examination of liver showed that the histological presentation of group C was impoved in comparison with the other two groups. Conclusion The combining of BMMSCs and NMP has an obvious protective effect on the DCD liver, which was showed by ALT，AST，histological presentation and cell activity. It may serve as a new method to repair DCD liver graft.