Donor lazaroid pretreatment improves viability of livers harvested from non-heart-beating rats

BACKGROUND: Lazaroids are potent inhibitors of lipid peroxidation. Whether the compounds can benefit the liver procured from non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs) is unknown. METHODS: Donor rats were pretreated with lazaroid U74006F (4.5 mg/kg) 1 hour before cardiac arrest, and transplantation was performed in the rats with donor cardiac arrest from 0 to 60, 100, 120, 140, and 160 minutes as lazaroid pretreated groups. The same number of liver transplantations were done in each paired control group without donor lazaroid pretreatment. Recipient survival rates, bile secretion, serum enzymes, and a lidocaine metabolism test were analyzed. RESULTS: Donor lazaroid pretreatment significantly increased recipient 3-day survival rates in groups with 60, 100, and 120 minutes of warm ischemia and 7-day survival with 60 minutes of warm ischemia. Also, the pretreatment increased bile secretion and reduced serum aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase levels in the lazaroid-pretreated groups. CONCLUSIONS: Donor U74006F pretreatment improves viability of livers procured from NHBDs.