[The differences in liver regenerative rate after partial hepatectomy in rats treated wtih selected immunosuppressants].

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of selected immunosuppressants on liver regeneration. In fifty experiments were performed on fifty male Buffalo strain rats, 12 weeks old and weighing between 206 and 266 grams. Partial hepatectomy (2/3) was carried out under ether anaesthesia. Rats were randomly assigned to one of six groups (10 rats per group) and treated orally as follows: group 1--without immunosuppressant (control group), group 2--ciclosporin A (CyA) 10 mg/kg/day, group 3--azathioprine (Aza) 3 mg/kg/day, group 4--tacrolimus (Tac) 0.1 mg/kg/day and group 5--prednisolone (Pred) 1 mg/kg/day. After 42 days observation all rats were killed. Resected liver tissue was weighed at the day of operation and also the remnant liver was weighed after sacrification of the animal. The regenerative rate was obtained by dividing the wet weight of the remaining liver by the estimated preoperative weight of the whole liver and multiplying by 100. Regenerative rate of liver tissue was significantly higher in rats treated with CyA and Tac and significantly lower in rats treated with Pred. There were no significant differences between control group and rats treated with Aza. This study has shown that among immunosupressant used in experiment only CyA and Tac stimulated liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy. On the other hand only Pred inhibited liver regeneration, whereas Aza had no influence on liver restoration.