Which Incision is Better for Orthotopic Rat Liver Transplantation, Transverse or Midline?

Orthotopic rat liver transplantation (OLT) is a complex procedure extensively applicable to basic science, myriad complications can occur, incision-related self-biting has not been reported after liver transplantation. For the project of tolerance induction through stem cells, OLT was performed from inbred Sprague Dawley (SD) rat to SD (control group, n = 9), SD to Lewis (chronic rejection, n = 11), and OLT from Lewis allograft to Brown Norway (BN) rats (acute rejection, n = 63), the acute rejection group was sub-grouped into the transverse incision group(n = 26) and midline group(n = 37), Cyclosporine A was injected at 2mg/kg into the rejection groups once daily for 14 days, lidocaine cream alone or with naloxone was used for pain-relieving. The recipient survival and wound status were the primary endpoint of this study. For SD→SD, 30-day survival rate was 88.9%, no self-biting behavior occurred; for SD→Lewis, 30-day survival rate was 54.5%, the degree II of self-biting occurred in 2 cases. For Lewis→BN with transverse incision, 30-day survival rate was 51.8%, severe self-biting occurred in 16 cases in 8–27 days and 5 more cases over 30 days, which caused death or euthanasia, the degree 2 of biting occurred in 2 cases. For Lewis→BN with midline incision, 30-day survival rate was 86.0%, no severe self-biting occurred, mild self-biting in 2 cases. There was difference in the biting–related survival between two sub-groups (p = 0.003). In conclusion, incision-related self-biting behavior is species-specific for rats, the transverse incision is the pain-causing reason; the midline one is effective to avert occurrences.

The simple maneuver to safely extend the anhepatic time to 30 minutes for rat liver transplantation

Background Orthotopic rat liver transplantation (OLT) is widely used; it remains to be challenging although many renovations have been made. Methods For tolerance induction, we performed OLT including whole graft OLT from close Sprague Dawley (SD) rat to SD (whole graft group, control group, n = 21) and 30 minute anhepatic time (AHT) group (AHT group, n = 11). For good outcomes of AHT group and generalization of this maneuver, partial OLT was performed from 50% Lewis allograft to Brown Norway (BN) rats to induce tolerance (half graft group, n = 28), Cyclosporine A was injected once daily for 14 days. Results For whole graft group, 30-day survival rate was 85.5% (18/21), the reasons of death were gas embolism due to the missed suturing in 2 cases, blood loss in 1 case. For AHT group and tolerance group, 30-day survival rate was 72.7% (8/11), 64.3% (18/28), the causes of death were diverse. There were no differences in survival in 3 groups (p = 0.289). Conclusion The anhepatic time can be extended simply through the change of clamping the diaphragm, which facilitates its application in the research.

The Role of Tacrolimus Nanomicelles in Acute Rejection After Liver Transplantation in Rats

Although there is some progress in immunosuppressive therapy of acute rejection, there is still a lack of standardized diagnosis and treatment. For the acute rejection after liver transplantation, there is still a lack of an exact treatment at this stage. Tacrolimus (TAC) side effects will also affect the survival rate and quality of life of recipients after transplantation to a large extent. Rat orthotopic liver transplantation model was established and divided into three groups. In the tolerance group, Brown Norway (BN) to Lewis liver transplantation was used; in the rejection group, Lewis to BN liver transplantation was used; in the TAC group, TAC was injected after operation on the basis of establishing rejection model. The expression of GITRL in Kupffer cells and the change of cytokines were detected 7 days after operation. In this study, the animal model of acute rejection of rat liver transplantation was established to simulate the clinical allogeneic liver transplantation, and the important role of TAC in the acute rejection of rat liver transplantation was evaluated.

The Simple Maneuver to Safely Extend the Anhepatic Time to 30 Minutes for Rat Liver Transplantation

Background: Orthotopic rat liver transplantation (OLT) is widely used; it remains to be challenging although many renovations have been made. Methods: For tolerance induction, we performed OLT including whole graft OLT from close Sprague Dawley (SD) rat to SD (whole graft group, control group, n=21) and 30 minute anhepatic time (AHT) group (AHT group, n=11). For good outcomes of AHT group and generalization of this maneuver, partial OLT was performed from 50% Lewis allograft to Brown Norway (BN) rats to induce tolerance (half graft group, n=28), Cyclosporine A was injected once daily for 14 days. Results: For whole graft group, 30-day survival rate was 85.5% (18/21), the reasons of death were gas embolism due to the missed suturing in 2 cases, blood loss in 1 case. For AHT group and tolerance group, 30-day survival rate was 72.7% (8/11), 64.3% (18/28), the causes of death were diverse. There were no differences in survival in 3 groups (p=0.289). Conclusion: The anhepatic time can be extended simply through the change of clamping the diaphragm, which facilitates its application in the research.