Methods to Reduce Liver Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Abstract: Introduction: During the last two decades, liver surgery has expanded enormously, partly due to improved surgical equipment and techniques as well as new and more powerful chemotherapy agents. As the liver is a very well-vascularized organ, there is an inherent risk of bleeding during liver resection. One of the most popular methods employed to reduce this risk is to close the vascular inflow to the liver using the Pringle’s maneuver (PM). However, this procedure has been recognized to cause ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) to the future liver remnant (FLR). In cases of extensive resection where the FLR is small and in cases when the liver suffers from chronic diseases, such as cirrhosis, IRI can greatly increase the risk of post-operative liver failure (POLF). Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and, more recently, remote ischemic preconditioning (R-IPC) are methods that have been employed to reduce IRI.Aim: 1) To compare the effects of IPC and R-IPC in a rat model; 2) to investigate the clinical effect of IPC during modern liver surgery; 3) to investigate the role of the nitric oxide (NO) system in IRI, IPC and R-IPC; and 4) to explore the possible protective effects of nitrite administration before IRI.Methods: A rat model of segmental ischemia followed by 4 hours of reperfusion including microdialysis (?D) was developed from earlier models. The effects of IPC and R-IPC were compared using transaminases and histology as well as continuous ?D sampling for glucose, pyruvate, lactate and glycerol. The role of the NO system was examined by serum and ?D measurements of NOx as well as tissue measurements of iNOS mRNA and IL-1R mRNA. In study II, patients were randomized to IPC or no IPC prior to liver resection, where intermittent PM was used to decrease bleeding.Results: IPC was more effective in protecting the liver against IRI than R-IPC, as indicated by the levels of transaminases. Lower lactate levels were detected in patients treated with IPC before major liver resections than in controls. IPC reduced iNOS mRNA transcription during reperfusion; this result may be related to the early but not sustained increases in IL-1R transcription observed in the IPC group. Nitrite administered before ischemia reduced AST and ALT levels in the level after 4 hours of reperfusion; in addition, necrosis and glycerol release from the ischemic liver were reduced as well.Conclusion: IPC is more effective than R-IPC in animal models; however, this effect is unlikely to be of clinical importance. NOx decreases in the ischemic liver and the administration of nitrite before ischemia reduces IRI in rats. This may have clinical implications in the future.