Auxiliary liver transplantation in the rat, influence of the condition of the recipient's liver on the fate of the graft.

To evaluate the influence of the functional state of the recipient's liver on the fate of an auxiliary liver graft in rats, diverse surgical interventions were carried out on the recipient's liver following transplantation of an auxiliary liver. All grafts consisted of 30% of the liver mass, were supplied with portal blood only, and provided with bile drainage. Permanent graft hypertrophy was observed when the recipient's liver was resected subtotally, in addition to the ligation of the bile duct. Ligation of the bile duct performed separately has a more pronounced effect on the increase of the weight of the graft than subtotal hepotectomy. If only portal blood was deviated to the graft, grafts atrophied. It is concluded that the functional efficiency and condition of the graft vary directly with the degree of functional impairment of the recipient's liver, compair functional hypertrophy. The present results do not seem to indicate the presence of a specific hepatotrophic factor in portal blood.