Microsurgical Extrahepatic Cholestasis in the Rat: A Long-Term Study

An experimental model of microsurgical cholestasis is studied as an alternative to the most frequently used surgical techniques, based on the section of the common bile duct. This microsurgical technique consists of the resection of the extrahepatic biliary tract, that is, of the common bile duct in continuity with the bile ducts that drain the four lobes of the rat liver. At 30 days of evolution, rats with microsurgical cholestasis do not develop biliary pseudocysts or intraperitoneal hilar hepatopulmonary abscesses and show an increase (p< 0.001) in total bilirubin (9.50 ± 1.50 mg/dL vs. 1.60 ± 0.35 mg/dL), bile acids (225 ± 87 μmol/L vs. 12.5 ± 14.50 μmol/L), gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (375 ± 143 U/L vs. 8 ± 11 U/L), and alkaline phosphatase (73 ± 25 U/L vs. 23 ± 4 U/L) levels. The histological study shows fibrosis with biliary proliferation. The microsurgical cholestasis technique is a valid alternative to other techniques and can be an adequate experimental model for the study of etiopathogenic mechanisms of obstructive jaundice and especially to study extrahepatic biliary atresia.