Mucosal damage and recovery of the intestine after prolonged preservation and transplantation in dogs

Background. Although much is known about the mucosal damage that occurs aft er intestinal warm ischemia and reperfusion and its recovery, little is kno wn about the effect of cold preservation and transplantation on the mucosa, We studied the electrophysiological, biochemical, and histological changes of the intestinal mucosa after preservation for 24 hr and subsequent trans plantation. Methods. The small intestines from adult mongrel dogs were harvested. The i ntestines were orthotopically autotransplanted immediately (control group) or after preservation for 24 hr (preservation group). Jejunal and ileal tis sues were taken before harvesting, at the end of preservation, 1 hr after r eperfusion, and on postoperative days 3, 7, 14, and 28, The Ussing chamber method was used to study the electrophysiologic changes. Tissue maltase, di amine oxidase, and ornithine decarboxylase were measured. A histological an alysis was also performed, Results. Control group grafts showed no evident deterioration in electrophy siology, biochemistry, or morphology, In contrast, preservation group graft s exhibited electrophysiological and biochemical degradation, complete denu dation of the villi, and crypt injury (especially in the ileum) after reper fusion, Electrophysiologic function and the mucosa biochemical marker recov ered within 3 days in the jejunum and within 7-14 days in the ileum; howeve r, histological recovery of mucosal injury required 28 days in the jejunum and more than 28 days in the ileum, Conclusions. Our study showed that despite severe destruction of mucosal in tegrity by prolonged preservation and transplantation, the intestinal mucos a has an enormous regenerative capacity. Our study also showed that regener ation was more pronounced in the jejunum than in the ileum.