Abstract
AIM: To clarify the protective effect of exogenous adenosine triphosphate (ATP) on hypothermically preserved rat livers. METHODS: Establishment of continuous hypothermic machine perfusion model, detection of nucleotides in hepatocytes with HPLC, measurement of activities of LDH and AST in the perfusate, observation of histopathological changes in different experiment groups, and autoradiography were carried out to reveal the underlying mechanism of the protective effect of ATP. RESULTS: The intracellular levels of ATP and EC decreased rapidly after hypothermic preservation in control group, while a higher ATP and EC level, and a slower decreasing rate were observed when ATP-MgCl(2) was added to the perfusate (P<0.01). As compared with the control group, the activities of LDH and AST in the ATP-MgCl(2) group were lower (P<0.05). Furthermore, more severe hepatocyte damage and neutrophil infiltration were observed in the control group. Radioactive [alpha-(32)P] ATP entered the hypothermically preserved rat hepatocytes. CONCLUSION: Exogenous ATP has a protective effect on rat livers during hypothermical preservation. However, Mg(2+) is indispensable, addition of ATP alone produces no protective effect. The underlying mechanism may be that exogenous ATP enters the hypothermically preserved rat liver cells.