THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TISSUE-TYPE PLASMINOGEN-ACTIVATOR FOR PRETRANSPLANT ASSESSMENT OF LIVER GRAFT VIABILITY - ANALYSIS OF EFFLUENT FROM THEGRAFT IN RATS

We studied the significance of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) on the pretransplant assessment of liver graft viability in rats. The liver grafts were excised from the rats and then divided into two gro ups. Group 1 consisted of grafts preserved for 4 h in chilled, lactate d Ringer's solution (4-degrees-C) and group 2 consisted of grafts pres erved for 6 h in the same solution. After preservation, the liver graf ts were flushed out through the portal vein using 5 ml of chilled, lac tated Ringer's solution (4-degrees-C). The entire effluent from the he patic veins was then collected and analyzed for tPA, ammonia, lactate, pyruvate, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, and lactate dehydrogenas e. The tPA concentration of effluent in group 2 was significantly high er than that in group 1 (0.80 +/- 0.23 ng/ml vs 0.42 +/- 0.08 ng/ml, P < 0.05). The lactate, pyruvate, and ammonia levels in group 2 were al so higher than those in group 1 (134 +/- 13 mg/dl vs 120 +/- 2 mg/dl, 0.34 +/- 0.40 mg/dl vs 0.09 +/- 0.01 mg/dl, and 183 +/- 79 mug/dl vs 1 02 +/- 40 mug/dl, respectively). However, the discriminative power of tPA was stronger than that of the other parameters. Histological findi ngs revealed a higher number of try-pan blue-stained sinusoidal lining cells that were detached and swollen in group 2. We conclude that the amount of tPA in the effluent flushed from the graft can serve as a s ensitive and reliable indicator of cold-preserved liver grafts in rats .