Original Articles
Copyright ©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2009; 15(16): 1951-1957
Published online Apr 28, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.1951
Histological and biochemical alterations in early-stage lobar ischemia-reperfusion in rat liver
Hossein Ali Arab, Farhang Sasani, Mohammad Hossein Rafiee, Ahmad Fatemi, Abbas Javaheri
Hossein Ali Arab, Mohammad Hossein Rafiee, Ahmad Fatemi, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155, Iran
Farhang Sasani, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155, Iran
Abbas Javaheri, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Semnan, Semnan 35195, Iran
Author contributions: Arab HA designed research; Arab HA, Rafiee MH and Fatemi A performed the research; Sasani F and Javaheri A contributed to the histological and imunohistochemistry examinations; Arab HA and Sasani F analyzed data; Arab HA and Sasani F wrote the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Hossein Ali Arab, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155, Iran. harab@ut.ac.ir
Telephone: +98-21-6117086
Fax: +98-21-6693322
Received: January 4, 2009
Revised: February 28, 2009
Accepted: March 7, 2009
Published online: April 28, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the structural and biochemical changes in the early stage of reperfusion in the rat livers exposed to lobar ischemia-reperfusion (IR).

METHODS: The median and left lobes of the liver were subjected to 60 min ischemia followed by 5, 10, 30, 45, 60 and 120 min reperfusion. Blood samples were taken at different time intervals to test enzyme activities and biochemical alterations induced by reperfusion. At the end of each reperfusion period, the animals were killed by euthanasia and tissue samples were taken for histological examination and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: Cell vacuolation, bleb formation and focal hepatitis were the most important changes occur during ischemia. While some changes including bleb formation were removed during reperfusion, other alterations including portal hepatitis, inflammation and the induction of apoptosis were seen during this stage. The occurrence of apoptosis, as demonstrated by apoptotic cells and bodies, was the most important histological change during reperfusion. The severity of apoptosis was dependent on the time of reperfusion, and by increasing the time of reperfusion, the numbers of apoptotic bodies was significantly enhanced. The amounts of lactate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine and urea were significantly increased in serum obtained from animals exposed to hepatic IR.

CONCLUSION: Inflammation and subsequent apoptotic cell death were the most important changes in early-stage hepatic reperfusion injury, and the number of apoptotic bodies increased with time of reperfusion.

Keywords: Lobar ischemia; Liver; Reperfusion injury; Apoptosis; Immunohistochemistry