Studies on isolated rat liver perfused by perfluoro-compound emulsion

Abstract

Isolated rat livers were perfused for 6 hours by different types of cell-free synthetic media. Some of the media included perfluoro-compounds as an oxygen carrier. The value of the perfusion medium as blood substitute was judged on the basis of observations and measurements of a number of parameters. These were: secretion of bile, fluid pressure in the portal vein, the level of GPT (ALAT) transaminase, urea nitrogen, and glucose in the perfusate. The rate of albumin synthesis and the rate of 14-C-lysine incorporated into circulating proteins were also measured. It was found that perfusion of the isolated rat liver with the TC-199 Difco medium containing the perfluoro-compound FC-80 emulsion maintained the liver in a good condition demonstrated, among other things, by the synthesis of albumin and other proteins. The liver could be kept in a good functional condition during 6 hours perfusion with this cell-free medium. With all the other types of perfusate tested the liver did not synthesize proteins. The isolated rat liver seems to be both convenient and advantageous for testing the perfusion media with respect to their capacity to maintain important metabolic functions.