HYALURONIC-ACID UPTAKE IN THE ASSESSMENT OF SINUSOIDAL ENDOTHELIAL-CELL DAMAGE AFTER COLD-STORAGE AND NORMOTHERMIC REPERFUSION OF RAT LIVERS

The uptake of hyaluronic acid (HA) was used to assess preservation dam age to sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) during cold storage and subs equent normothermic reperfusion of rat livers. After 8, 16, 24, and 45 h storage in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution, livers were gravi ty-flushed via the portal vein with a standard volume of cold UW solut ion containing 50 mu g/1 HA. The effluent was collected for analysis o f HA, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH ). The mean uptake of HA at 0 h was 59.1% +/- 4.6% (mean I. SEM). Afte r 8 h of storage, HA uptake was similar (55.5% +/- 7.3%), whereas afte r 16 h of storage it was reduced to 34.7% +/- 5.8%. At 24 and 48 h of storage, no uptake of HA was found. In a second series of experiments, livers were stored in UW solution and subsequently reperfused for 90 min with a Krebs-Henseleit solution (37 degrees C) in a recirculating system containing 150 mu g/1 HA. Following 8 h of storage, 34.6% +/- 8 .0% of the initial HA concentration was taken up from the perfusate. A fter 16 and 24 h of storage, no uptake of HA was found. The results of this study indicate that damage to SEC occurs progressively during st orage, leading to zero uptake of HA by the rat livers at 24 h of cold ischemia time. Additional reperfusion injury to the SEC was demonstrat ed by the reduced ability of the SEC to take up HA following normother mic reperfusion. The uptake of exogenous HA in preserved livers, used as a tool to assess SEC injury, enables the detection of early preserv ation damage.