Rat liver preservation. I. The components of UW solution that are essential to its success.

A total of 278 orthotopic rat liver grafts, without arterialization, were performed, in an attempt to determine which of the individual components of UW solution are essential. Livers were preserved by in situ flushing and cold storage with the following results: 56% of rats survived for 1 week after 9 hr of preservation with UW solution as compared with 44% using Marshall solution, and 10% using Collins solution. Having established LD 50 for UW solution, we then omitted its components one at a time and found that omission of HES, raffinose, allopurinol, adenosine, phosphate buffer, or MgSO4 did not change survival after 9 hr of preservation. Omission of lactobionate, glutathione, and dexamethasone, respectively, resulted in decreased survival, whereas elimination of insulin surprisingly increased survival. In ensuing dose-response studies, the concentrations of lactobionate, glutahione, dexamethasone in UW solution proved to be optimal. Finally, livers were preserved with a solution containing only lactobionate, glutathione, dexamethasone, raffinose, and phosphate buffer, resulting in 53% animal survival, as compared with 56% for the unchanged UW solution. We conclude that UW solution can be simplified without loss of effectiveness in this model.