Ischemic Postconditioning (IPostC) Protects Fibrotic and Cirrhotic Rat Livers after Warm Ischemia
Figure 1
Experimental protocols for animal studies. (a) Male SD rats underwent bile duct ligation over 4 weeks to induce liver fibrosis or received thioacetamide via drinking water over 18 weeks to induce liver cirrhosis. For the implementation of warm ischemia, healthy, fibrotic, and cirrhotic livers were perfused for 30 min, stored for 90 min at 37°C, and reperfused for 90 min. The IPostC intervention groups included 8x20 sec and 4x60 sec cycles that were performed after ischemia (control and intervention groups, each n=8). (b) For the follow-up study, we performed warm ischemia in healthy livers of male SD rats (postconditioned with IPostC 4x60 sec and nonpostconditioned, each n=6) and collected the reperfusion perfusate to perfuse a second healthy liver for 80 min.