SUPEROXIDE SCAVENGING ACTIVITY IN EXPERIMENTAL LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was evaluated by measuring superox ide scavenging capability with the aid of an electron spin resonance ( ESR) spin trapping method in a swine orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) model. The animals were divided into two groups, depending on th e length of the survival periods: the short survival group (n = 8) sur vived less than 6 days and the long survival group (n = 15) 6 days or longer. SOD activity was significantly lower in the short survival gro up than in the long survival group after reperfusion (P < 0.01). Durin g the period of cold preservation, a minimal change in SOD activity wa s noted, regardless of the length of preservation. Serum aspartate ami notransferase (AST) levels after reperfusion and serum lactate dehydro genase (LDH) levels Ih after reperfusion were significantly higher in the short survival group than in the long survival group (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). The difference in polymorphonuclear leukocyt es (PMN) was significantly greater in the short survival group at 1 h after reperfusion (P < 0.01). The authors conclude that superoxide sca venging activities in the graft reflect the magnitude of reperfusion i njury, which can be a reliable parameter for the estimation of graft o utcome.