Synergistic suppression of pre-perfusion of donor livers with recipient serum and cobra venom factor treatment on hyperacute rejection following liver xenotransplantation.

Purpose: To investigate synergistic suppression of donor liver pre-perfusion with recipient serum (RS) and cobra venom factor (CVF) treatment on hyperacute rejection (HAR) following liver xenotransplantation.
Methods: Guinea-pigs (GP, n=24) and Sprague-Dawley rats (SD, n=24) were recruited. Before transplantation, serum was collected from SD rats and used for preparation of inactivated complements. GP and SD rats were randomly assigned into four groups (n=6), respectively: RS group, CVF group, RS+CVF group and control group. Orthotopic liver xenotransplantation was performed with modified two-cuff technique. The survival time and liver function of recipients, morphological and pathological changes in rat livers were investigated.
Results: There was no piebald like change in the recipient livers in all experiment groups. The survival time of recipients in all experiment groups was longer than that in control group (p<0.05). Moreover, the survival time in the RS+CVF group was markedly longer than that in the RS group (p<0.01) and CVF group (p<0.05). The serum ALT level in all experiment groups were lower than that in the control group (p<0.05). Furthermore, the ALT level in the RS+CVF group was significantly lower than that in the CVF group (p<0.05) and RS group (p<0.01). The histological damages were significantly improved when compared with the control group, and the histological damages in the RS+CVF group were milder than those in the remaining groups (p<0.05)
Conclusion: Pre-perfusion of donor liver with recipient serum and cobra venom factor treatment can exert synergistic suppressive effects on the hyperacute rejection following liver xenotransplantation.