Evaluation of the viability and energy metabolism of ischemically damaged canine pancreas during preservation by the two-layer (University of Wisconsin solution/perfluorochemical) cold storage method.

We evaluated the viability and energy metabolism of ischemically damaged pancreas during preservation by the two-layer (University of Wisconsin solution (UW)/perfluorochemical (PFC)) cold storage method. The pancreas grafts subjected to 60-120 min warm ischemia were preserved by the two-layer (UW/PFC) cold storage method for 24 hours (group 3), a simple cold storage in UW for 24 hours (group 2) or without preservation (control) (group 1). The tissue concentration of adenine nucleotides (ANs) were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the viability of the pancreas graft was tested in the canine model of segmental pancreas autotransplantation. The functional success rates of pancreas grafts of groups 1, 2 and 3 after 60 min of warm ischemia were 5/5 (100%), 4/5 (80%) and 5/5 (100%). After 90 min warm ischemia, the success rates of groups 1, 2 and 3 were 0/5 (0%), 0/5 (0%) and 5/5 (100%) respectively. Only the two-layer method (group 3) was effective for functional recovery of the pancreas suffered 90 min warm ischemia. However, after more than 105 min, the result was 0/5 (0%) in group 3. In groups 1 and 2, there was no correlation between the posttransplant viability and tissue concentration of ANs and energy charge potential (ECP) at the end of preservation. However, in group 3, there was an excellent correlation between the posttransplant viability and tissue concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total adenine nucleotides (TAN) at the end of preservation. We conclude that tissue concentration of ATP and TAN at the end of 24 hour preservation by the two-layer (UW/PFC) method will predict the posttransplant outcome of pancreas graft subjected to significant warm ischemia.