Hydrogen Solution Protects Liver Transplants from Damage
- Authors
- Keiichi Uto, Seisuke Sakamoto, Weitao Que, Keita Shimata, Shintaro Hashimoto, Masataka Sakisaka, Yasuko Narita, Daiki Yoshii, Lin Zhong, Yoshihiro Komohara, Xiao-Kang Li, Yukihiro Inomata, Taizo Hibi
- Journal
- BMC Gastroenterology
- Year
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12876-019-0939-7
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- End-Stage Liver Disease
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Soaking liver transplants in hydrogen-rich water before surgery can protect them from damage when blood supply is returned.
Key Finding
Liver grafts preserved in hydrogen-rich solution showed significantly reduced damage markers and better protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury (damage from lack of blood flow followed by restoration) compared to standard preservation methods in rat transplant models.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen-rich solution could protect liver grafts (transplanted organs) from damage during the storage and transplant process in rats. They preserved rat livers in a special solution containing dissolved hydrogen and found that livers stored this way had less damage, lower enzyme levels indicating injury, and better protection against cell death compared to livers stored in regular solution.
Practical Takeaway
While this rat study suggests hydrogen-rich preservation solutions may help protect transplanted livers from damage, this is early-stage research conducted only in animals. It does not yet demonstrate benefits in human transplant recipients, and much more research would be needed before this approach could be applied clinically.
Abstract
Background: Liver transplantation (LT) is considered the standard treatment for end-stage liver disease, but ideal donors remain in limited supply, resulting in an unavoidable increase in the need to use grafts from marginal donors. The attenuation of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in such marginal donors is therefore crucial for reducing the possibility of the primary non-function of grafts and graft loss. Some reports have found that molecular-hydrogen showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in preventing IRI in some non-hepatic transplant models. Therefore, we investigated whether or not molecular-hydrogen could attenuate IRI in LT model rats. Methods: We used a hydrogen-rich water bath to dissolve hydrogen into solution and graft tissues and performed isogenic and orthotopic LT in Lewis rats with University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. Blood and tissue samples were collected 6 h after the reperfusion. Hepatic enzymes in serum were measured. Pathological findings including the expressions of cytokines and heme oxygenase (HO)-1 in liver tissues were evaluated. Results: The concentration of hydrogen inside the graft tissues increased depending on the storage time, plateauing after 1 h. Serum liver enzyme levels were significantly lower and the histology score of liver damage markedly attenuated in the group given grafts preserved in hydrogen-rich UW solution than in the control group. The hydrogen-rich UW solution group also showed less oxidative damage and hepatocyte apoptosis than the control group, and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines tended to be lower while the protein levels of HO-1 were significantly increased (n = 3-12 per group, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Storage of liver grafts in hydrogen-rich UW solution resulted in superior functional and morphologic protection against IRI via the up-regulation of HO-1 expression.