EFFECT OF GLYCINE ON ISOLATED, PERFUSED RABBIT LIVERS FOLLOWING 48-HOUR PRESERVATION IN UNIVERSITY-OF-WISCONSIN SOLUTION WITHOUT GLUTATHIONE

Glycine has been shown to decrease membrane injury in isolated cells due to hypoxia or cold ischemia. The mechanisms of action of glycine are not known, but glycine may be useful in organ preservation solutions or in treating recipients of liver transplantation. In this study the isolated. perfused rabbit liver was used to measure how glycine affected liver performance after 48-h preservation in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution without added glutathione. UW solution is less effective for 48-h liver preservation when glutathione is omitted. Rabbit livers stored for 48 h without glutathione show a large increase in enzyme release (LDH and AST) from the liver and a reduction in bile production. The addition of 15 mM glycine to UW solution, in place of glutathione, did not improve bile production or reduce enzyme release. However, infusion of 10 mM glycine into the reperfused liver lowered LDH release significantly (from 2383 +/- 562 units/100 g to 1426 +/- 286 units/ 100 g) during the initial reperfusion of the 48-h preserved liver. Hepatamine, a parenteral nutrition solution containing glycine, as well as other amino acids, was also effective in lowering LDH release from the preserved liver. Although glycine reduced LDH release, it did not decrease the amount of AST released from the liver, nor did it improve bile production. Thus, we conclude that glycine, either in UW solution or given to the liver upon reperfusion, has no significantly beneficial effect as tested in this model. Further testing of glycine, however, should be conducted in an orthotopic transplant model in the rat or dog

THE TISSUE HYDRATION STATE IN UW-PRESERVED HUMAN DONOR LIVERS - A CLINICAL-STUDY OF THE RELATION BETWEEN PROTON MAGNETIC-RESONANCE RELAXATION-TIMES, DONOR CONDITION, PRESERVATION PROCEDURE, AND EARLY GRAFT FUNCTION

To determine the relation between tissue hydration state-as indicated by tissue proton magnetic resonance relaxation times-in UW-preserved human donor livers and viability parameters of the donor and early graft function, ''ex vivo'' magnetic resonance relaxometry was performed with a clinical MR imaging system. Relaxometric data were obtained from MR images in which signal intensities were directly proportional to T-1 and T-2. Forty three subsequently transplanted livers and five discarded livers were studied. The donor serum concentrations of direct and total bilirubin had a positive correlation with T-1 (