Meeting the oxygen requirements of an isolated perfused rat liver

Liver perfusion systems can be used as organ culture platforms for metabolic, genetic and systems engineering, tissue regeneration, pharmacokinetics, organ storage and marginal donor reconditioning for transplantation. The primary requirement of such a system is that it maintain ex vivo organ function in a stable manner for indefinite periods of time. The more physiologically relevant the perfusion system is, the lower the likelihood of incurring functional instability, and the greater the clinical relevance of the data obtained. Currently, a major limiting factor in achieving such a design is the absence of organ-specific in vivo data to standardize, evaluate and optimize the state of perfused livers. Oxygen uptake rate, the primary indicator of organ metabolism and therefore a likely important marker of organ viability, was chosen as one such parameter to be investigated. A systematic review and reproduction of numerous oxygenation conditions cited in the literature in addition to in vivo data sampling across the rat liver shows a significant paucity of oxygen uptake in perfusion compared to in vivo. The reasons stem largely from the biological and mechanical flow properties of the perfusate, but also from the altered metabolic state of the organ in perfusion. In the absence of an oxygen carrier, the liver became oxygen starved and lost functionality. The addition of erythrocytes significantly improved oxygen delivery rates while reducing the flow rate and damaging shear stress.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Izamis, Maria-Louisa, 1979-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Martin L. Yarmush.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/55267

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/55267