Successful 20-hour rat liver preservation with chlorpromazine in sodium lactobionate sucrose solution.

We investigated the effect of the addition of chlorpromazine to a new, simplified organ preservation solution, sodium lactobionate sucrose (SLS), for 20-hour hypothermic rat liver preservation. Survival beyond 7 days after orthotopic transplantation of the stored liver was eight of eight rats in control groups (immediate transplantation, less than 1-hour preservation), one of 14 rats with the University of Wisconsin (UW) solution, four of 14 rats with SLS, seven of eight rats with SLS + chlorpromazine, 1 mg/L, and seven of eight rats with SLS + chlorpromazine, 10 mg/L. The differences is survival between UW and SLS and between SLS and SLS + chlorpromazine were significant (p less than 0.05). Lactic dehydrogenase levels in the effluent after reflushing through the portal vein at the time of transplantation were 145 +/- 20 IU/L (mean +/- SEM) in the controls, 525 +/- 78 IU/L in UW, 492 +/- 44 IU/L in SLS, 290 +/- 39 IU/L in SLS + chlorpromazine, 1 mg/L, 290 +/- 11 IU/L in SLS + chlorpromazine, 10 mg/L. The values for the SLS + chlorpromazine were significantly lower than for SLS and UW (p less than 0.05). The pH of the effluent was 7.10 +/- 0.10 in controls, 6.42 +/- 0.12 in UW, 6.64 +/- 0.18 in SLS, and 7.07 +/- 0.02 in SLS + chlorpromazine, 1 mg/L and 10 mg/L. The pH drop was significantly greater in the groups without chlorpromazine (p less than 0.01). This study shows that superior rat liver preservation was achieved with a simplified lactobionate solution containing sodium as the principal cation, sucrose in place of raffinose, and omitting the colloid and several of the other UW components. The addition of low concentrations of chlorpromazine further enhanced the effectiveness of this solution, without the need for donor pretreatment.