DELETION OF HYDROXYETHYLSTARCH FROM UNIVERSITY-OF-WISCONSIN SOLUTION INDUCES CELL SHRINKAGE AND PROTEOLYSIS DURING AND AFTER COLD-STORAGE OF RAT-LIVER

Among the numerous components of the University of Wisconsin (UW) solu tion used for organ preservation, the usefulness of hydroxyethylstarch (HES), the colloido-osmotic support of this solution, is controversia l. The aim of our study was to determine the influence of HES on hepat ic metabolism and intracellular hydration state during hypothermic pre servation and after reperfusion in a model of isolated perfused rat Li ver. Three groups of eight Livers were perfused either immediately or after 18 hours of cold storage in a UW-based preservation solution wit h or without HES. Omission of HES results in 1) a stimulation of prote in degradation shown by the marked increase in branched-chain amino ac id (BCAA) release (211 +/- 55 vs. 87 +/- 28 nmol/min/g; P < .05, modif ied UW group vs. UW group), 2) an increase in oxygen consumption (81.7 +/- 4.8 vs. 61.5 +/- 5.0 mu mol/h/g; P < .05), 3) a decrease in gluco se production (2.3 +/- 0.6 vs. 5.0 +/- 0.6 mu mol/min/g; P < .05), and 4) a reduction in intracellular volume (414 +/- 36 vs. 557 +/- 41 mu L/g; P < .05). We conclude that HES plays an important role in liver p reservation by limiting proteolysis, possibly through the observed pre servation of cell volume.