Metronomic capecitabine inhibits liver transplant rejection in rats by triggering recipients’ T cell ferroptosis

Figure 2 Metronomic capecitabine improves liver function and ameliorates liver allograft rejection. A: Liver allograft tissue was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (50 × and 200 ×). Liver tissue, portal vein, and bile duct were significantly injured in the untreated control group (CON), with a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrated. In the metronomic capecitabine-treated groups (MET), liver tissue destruction was relatively mild, with limited infiltration of inflammatory cells (yellow arrows), relatively little degeneration of portal vein endothelium (red arrows), and bile duct epithelium (blue arrows); B: The severity of acute rejection was graded according to the Banff liver rejection criteria; C-F: Alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin levels in the peripheral blood; G: Survival analysis of rats after liver transplantation. The median survival time of the CON and MET groups were 11.5 d and 16 d, respectively (P < 0.01). The survival analysis was done by log-rank (Mantel Cox) test, n = 6. Statistical analysis was done by unpaired t-test, n = 6. Data are shown as mean ± SD; ^bP < 0.01 vs the control group, ^cP < 0.001 vs the control group. CON: Untreated control groups, rats received 0.9% normal saline for 7 d; MET: Metronomic capecitabine (CAP)-treated groups, rats received metronomic CAP (100 mg/kg/d) treated for 7 d; ALT: Alanine transaminase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; TBIL: Total bilirubin; DBIL: Direct bilirubin.