Clinical Gastroenterology Vol.15 No.2(9)

Theme Fatty Liver Update
Title Transplantation of Steatotic Liver
Publish Date 2000/02
Author Kazuaki Hatsugai Second Departrnent of Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine
[ Summary ] It is well known that steatotic grafts often cause primary graft nonfunction(PNF). Because of a shortage of donors, clinical trials to transplant fatty liver tissue were carried out. Clinically, it has been reported that grafts with moderate steatosis tended to cause graft dysfunction after liver transplantation, However, if the steatosis is of the microvesicular type, even severely steatotic grafts do not cause graft dysfunction. In the experimental model for fatty livers, several causes, such as narrowing of sinusoidal lumen, free radicals from activated Kupffer cells and a change in plasma membrane fluidity, have been pointed out as causes of graft dysfunction. However, the details concerning this are still unclear. As a preventive against graft dysfunction after fatty liver transplantation, several methods were also investigated experimentally. It is expected that we may establish a treatment for the prevention of PNF in grafts with steatosis.
back