Stimulation of monooxygenation and conjugation after liver transplantation in the rat: involvement of Kupffer cells.

The success rate of liver transplantation has improved markedly during the last few years and, although this patient population receives multiple drug therapies, the effect of liver transplantation on drug metabolism has been studied very little. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the metabolism of model drug substrates after liver transplantation in the rat. Rat livers were stored for 4 hr in cold Euro-Collins solution, transplanted orthotopically, and then perfused 2 hr later with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit buffer, using a nonrecirculating system. Rates of monooxygenation of the model compound p-nitroanisole, conjugation of p-nitrophenol, and uptake of oxygen were measured. All parameters studied were elevated significantly, by nearly 2-fold, by transplantation. Specifically, monooxygenation was increased from 2.9 +/- 0.2 to 5.1 +/- 0.4 mumol/g/hr, conjugation was elevated from 3.3 +/- 0.6 to 7.7 +/- 0.1 mumol/g/hr, and O2 uptake was stimulated from basal values of 114 to 197 mumol/g/hr. Transplantation did not, however, alter rates of monooxygenation and conjugation in isolated microsomes supplemented with excess cofactor. When donor rats were pretreated with the Kupffer cell toxicant gadolinium chloride (10 mg/kg, intravenously) 30 hr before liver storage, the elevation after transplantation in all parameters studied was prevented. Depletion of carbohydrate reserves by fasting of donor rats did not prevent stimulation of monooxygenation and conjugation. On the other hand, urea synthesis from ammonium chloride, a process dependent on mitochondrial NADPH, was increased and monooxygenation was diminished after transplantation, suggesting the involvement of mitochondria in this phenomenon. Indeed, mitochondria isolated 2 hr postoperatively exhibited significantly elevated respiratory control ratios and higher state 3 rates of respiration. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that Kupffer cells, activated by transplantation, release mediators that stimulate mitochondria in parenchymal cells and enhance drug metabolism by increasing cofactor supply (e.g., NADPH for monooxygenation and UDP-glucuronic acid for glucuronidation).