Microcirculatory disturbances and leucocyte adherence in transplanted livers after cold storage in Euro-Collins, UW and HTK solutions

Integrity of the hepatic microcirculation and maintenance of endothelial cell viability are critical components in preventing primary non-function after liver transplantation. Therefore, hepatic microcirculation and leucocyte-endothelial interaction were studied in rat livers stored for 1 h in Euro-Collins (EC), University of Wisconsin (UW), and histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solutions and subsequently transplanted. One hour after transplantation surgery, the livers were exposed under an intravital fluorescence microscope. After injection of the leucocyte marker acridine orange (1 mumol/kg), six pericentral fields were observed for 30 s and experiments were recorded continuously. The percentage of perfused sinusoids was reduced in the livers in the EC group (82.9%) in contrast to the UW (93.2%) and HTK groups (91.0%). Livers in the EC group showed a reduction in the diameters of pericentral sinusoids (7.3 +/- 0.2 microns; mean +/- SEM) compared with the UW group (9.5 +/- 0.2 microns; P less than 0.05) and HTK group (10.2 +/- 0.8 microns; P less than 0.05), indicating substantial cell swelling in livers stored in EC solution. Permanent adherence of leucocytes was most frequently observed in the EC group (33.5 +/- 1%), while this phenomenon was less pronounced in the UW group (14.5 +/- 1.1%; P less than 0.05) and HTK group (16.3 +/- 0.7%; P less than 0.05). Conversely, temporary adherence of leucocytes was reduced in the EC group (19.7 + 1.3%) compared with the UW group (30.5 + 2.1%) and the HTK group (34.4 + 0.8%).