Objective To analyze the effects of different perfusion and different superior hepatic vena cava anastomosis methods on the establishment of rat orthotopic liver transplantation model. Methods Eighty SD rats were randomly grouped with donor group and recipient group with 40 rats in each group. Ten rats in the donor liver acquisition group received abdominal aorta infusion set drip irrigation (1 drop/s); 10 rats received abdominal aorta micro-pump perfusion method (6 mL/min); and then received recipient liver transplantation (corresponding to 10 rats in each group). The donor liver perfusion time and donor liver acquisition time of rats in the 2 groups were collected. HE staining was performed on liver tissues after perfusion and 24 h after liver transplantation. Ten rats in the recipient liver transplantation group received continuous anastomosis, and 10 rats received tension-reducing half-needle anastomosis. We collected the anastomosis time of superior and inferior hepatic vena cava, the time of anhepatic stage and the incidence of postoperative complications of the recipient. Results Contrasted with abdominal aorta infusion group, the perfusion time and acquisition time of donor liver were shorter in the abdominal aorta micro-pump perfusion group (P＜0.05). HE staining showed that the morphology of hepatocytes, portal vein and bile duct in the abdominal aorta micro-pump perfusion group did not change obviously, only a few lymphocytes infiltrated. Contrasted with continuous anastomosis group, the anastomosis time, anhepatic stage of the superior hepatic vena cava, incidences of postoperative anastomotic bleeding and incomplete perfusion of donor liver in the reduced tension half-needle anastomosis group were shorter or lower (P＜0.05). Conclusions Compared with abdominal aorta infusion set drip method, the quality of donor liver was improved by abdominal aorta micropump perfusion. Compared with continuous anastomosis method, the tension-reducing half-needle anastomosis can shorten the suture time of superior hepatic vena cava and anhepatic stage, and the incidence of anastomotic bleeding was reduced.
Objective To explore the pathological features of rejection reaction and whether it accord with antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in the liver transplantation model of allo-sensitized rat. Methods Twelve male Lewis rats as the recipient, 250–290 g; 6 male Brown Norway (BN) rats as the donor, 250–280 g. Twelve Lewis recipient rats were randomly divided into 4 groups by random number method (n=3): Lewis control group (LC group, without any treatment), direct transplantation group (T group, livers from BN rats were directly transplanted into Lewis rats), sensitized group (S group, spleen lymphocytes from BN rats were injected into Lewis rats), and sensitized transplantation group (TS group, splenic lymphocytes from BN rats were injected into Lewis rats for 2 weeks before liver transplantation). On the 14th day after liver transplantation, 3–4 mL of recipient non-lethal blood was collected to detect serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and creatinine (CRE) levels, and detect the expression of donor-specific alloantibody (DSA) and complement C4d in recipients. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson staining were used to evaluate the morphological indexes of rat liver tissue, and CK-19, C4d and CD20 immunohistochemical staining methods were used to evaluate the degree of liver rejection and rejection activity index (RAI) score was performed. ResultsCompared with the T group, the serum AST, TB, and ALP levels, as well as the positive rates of DSA (IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG2c) and C4d expression in Lewis rats in the TS group increased. Compared with the LC group, rats in the T group showed partial bile duct edema and lymphocyte infiltration, but no obvious damage of capillary structure was observed. Compared with the T group, a large number of lymphocytes or monocytes were infiltrated and capillaries were severely damaged in the anterior bile duct of rats in the TS group. The RAI and C4d scores of the TS group were higher than those of the T group. Conclusions More severe acute rejection and liver dysfunction occurred after liver transplantation in sensitized rats, and the acute rejection in sensitized rats was consistent with the characteristics of AMR. However, due to the small sample size in this study, further exploration of AMR model remains to be done.