Animal experiments study on graft atrophy after dual-grafts liver transplantation

Objective To verify the phenomenon of graft atrophy after clinical dual-graft liver transplantation through animal experiments. Methods Eighteen clean male SD rats, aged 8-10 weeks, weighing 230-250 g, were fasted for 12 hours before surgery. Twelve SD rats served as donors and 6 served as recipients. A rat dual-graft liver transplantation model was established, and the volume changes of the recipient rats after transplantation were observed by magnetic resonance technology. The volume and mass of left and right grafts of donor liver were compared by group t test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The liver lobes were double right superior lobe. The average liver mass of the donor rats was (4.30±0.06) g, and the average total liver mass of the recipient rats was (9.4±0.2) g. The ratio of graft to body weight of recipient rats was 1.79% to 1.88%, and the ratio of graft to liver mass of recipients was 45.7% to 46.8%. The operation time was (70±4 ) min, the cold ischemia time was (30.0±1.5) min, the warm ischemia time was (12.0±1.5) min, and the anhepatic phase was (20.0±2.5) min. Six recipient rats underwent MRI at 1 day after double liver transplantation, and the volume of the grafts on both sides was the same. After 15 days after MRI, 3 rats suffered unilateral graft atrophy. Conclusions Partial recipient-side grafts atrophy after dual-graft liver transplantation in rats. Key words: Dual-graft liver transplantation; Atrophy; Volume; Rat