Basic Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 15, 2004; 10(6): 871-874
Published online Mar 15, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i6.871
Protective effect of exogenous adenosine triphosphate on hypothermically preserved rat liver
Xiao-Dong Tan, Hiroshi Egami, Feng-Shan Wang, Michio Ogawa
Xiao-Dong Tan, Hiroshi Egami, Feng-Shan Wang, Michio Ogawa, Department of Surgery II, Kumamoto University Medical School, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Xiao-Dong Tan, Department of Surgery II, Kumamoto University Medical School. Honjo 1-1-1, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. tanxd@hotmail.com
Telephone: +81-96-3735211 Fax: +81-96-371-4378
Received: October 15, 2003
Revised: October 23, 2003
Accepted: November 20, 2003
Published online: March 15, 2004
Abstract

AIM: To clarify the protective effect of exogenous adenosine triphosphate (ATP) on hypothermically preserved rat livers.

METHODS: Establishment of continuous hypothermic machine perfusion model, detection of nucleotides in hepatocytes with HPLC, measurement of activities of LDH and AST in the perfusate, observation of histopathological changes in different experiment groups, and autoradiography were carried out to reveal the underlying mechanism of the protective effect of ATP.

RESULTS: The intracellular levels of ATP and EC decreased rapidly after hypothermic preservation in control group, while a higher ATP and EC level, and a slower decreasing rate were observed when ATP-MgCl2 was added to the perfusate (P < 0.01). As compared with the control group, the activities of LDH and AST in the ATP-MgCl2 group were lower (P < 0.05). Furthermore, more severe hepatocyte damage and neutrophil infiltration were observed in the control group. Radioactive [α-32P] ATP entered the hypothermically preserved rat hepatocytes.

CONCLUSION: Exogenous ATP has a protective effect on rat livers during hypothermical preservation. However, Mg2+ is indispensable, addition of ATP alone produces no protective effect. The underlying mechanism may be that exogenous ATP enters the hypothermically preserved rat liver cells.

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