Are slaughterhouse-obtained livers suitable for use in perfusion research?

Objectives: The success of the machine perfusion of pig livers used for preclinical research depends on organ quality and availability. In this study, we investigated whether livers obtained from slaughterhouses are suitable and equivalent to livers obtained from laboratory pigs.

Methods: Livers were obtained from slaughterhouse pigs stunned by electrocution or CO inhalation and from laboratory pigs.

Normothermic Ex Vivo Liver Platform Using Porcine Slaughterhouse Livers for Disease Modeling.

Metabolic and toxic liver disorders, such as fatty liver disease (steatosis) and drug-induced liver injury, are highly prevalent and potentially life-threatening. To allow for the study of these disorders from the early stages onward, without using experimental animals, we collected porcine livers in a slaughterhouse and perfused these livers normothermically. With our simplified protocol, the perfused slaughterhouse livers remained viable and functional over five hours of perfusion, as shown by hemodynamics, bile production, indocyanine green clearance, ammonia metabolism, gene expression and histology.

Bioprinting Perfusion-Enabled Liver Equivalents for Advanced Organ-on-a-Chip Applications.

Many tissue models have been developed to mimic liver-specific functions for metabolic and toxin conversion in in vitro assays. Most models represent a 2D environment rather than a complex 3D structure similar to native tissue. To overcome this issue, spheroid cultures have become the gold standard in tissue engineering.