The importance of prevention of sinusoidal endothelial cell injury during cold preservation of liver graft.

We investigated adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, lipid peroxidation, and activities of radical scavenging enzymes in mitochondria, as well as the ultrastructural morphological changes during cold preservation of swine liver grafts (n = 6) with either Euro Collins (EC) or University of Wisconsin (UW) solutions. The liver, harvested by a standard procedure, was preserved in one of the solutions at 4 degrees C. The values of the total adenine nucleotide and mitochondrial respiratory control ratio (RCR), an index of ATP synthesis, decreased gradually for up to 24 hr during preservation with either of the two solutions and there was no statistical difference between them.