Liver Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Liver Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation. | ||||||||
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Effects of methylprednisolone and its liver-targeted dextran prodrug on ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat liver transplantation model.Chimalakonda AP, Mehvar R School of Pharmacy, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 1300 S. Coulter, Amarillo, Texas 79106, USA. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a liver-targeted dextran prodrug (DMP) of methylprednisolone (MP) in cold preservation-warm reperfusion injury associated with liver transplantation. METHODS: The effects of donor pretreatment with single 5 mg/kg doses of MP or DMP on ischemia-reperfusion damage to the liver were studied after 8 or 24 h of cold preservation in both isolated perfused rat liver (IPRL) and syngeneic orthotopic rat liver transplantation (OLT) models. RESULTS: In IPRL studies, donor pretreatment with DMP, and to a lesser degree MP, significantly improved the uptake of hyaluronic acid (HA), a marker of endothelial cell function, following 8 h of cold preservation. However, neither pretreatment was protective after 24 h of preservation. In the OLT model using 24-h-preserved livers, the seven-day survival of untreated grafts was 50%. DMP pretreatment of donors significantly improved graft survival to 100%, whereas MP pretreatment was ineffective. Additionally, only DMP significantly increased the blood glucose concentrations and decreased the plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha after OLT. Other measured markers of liver injury were not affected by either pretreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Selective delivery of methylprednisolone to the liver as a donor pretreatment strategy improves 24-h preserved graft survival in the OLT model. Published 6 November 2007 in Pharm Res, 24(12): 2231-8.
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