Survival of transplanted normal hepatic cells in bilirubin UDP-glucuronyl transferase deficient Gunn rat liver.

The survival of H3 thymidine labelled normal rat hepatic cells after transplantation into the Gunn rat liver has been investigated. It was found that 0.9% of the cells survived at least 12 weeks after transplantation. This suggests that the observed uridine diphosphoglucuronyl transferase (UDPGT) activity in the genetically deficient Gunn rats after transplantation of normal liver may be partially due to these cells. Time required for the transplantation procedure has a profound effect on the survival of such cells in the recipient liver.