AN INJURY OF THE LIVER CAUSED BY ISCHEMIA-REPERFUSION IN RAT-LIVER .2. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DAMAGE OF THE LIVER AND DURING THE PERIOD OF REPERFUSION

Liver injury by 30-min ischemia following reperfusion was examined biochemically and histopathologically. A greater increase in the level of LDH was observed after 1-hr reperfusion. However, the level of LDH decreased in proportion to the period of reperfusion, while the levels of GOT and GPT were also increased rapidly and reached its peak at 12 hr following reperfusion and were almost restored to the control level by 48 hr. A similar increase was obtained in the lipid peroxides of the liver. In addition, cyt. P-450 content and NADPH cyt. c reductase activity decreased in proportion to the period of reperfusion up to 12 hr and then recovered by 96 hr. On the other hand, heme oxygenase activity was significantly increased by ischemia-reperfusion. The ischemia-reperfused liver resulted in various morphological changes with the period of reperfusion. The destruction of Disse's space, vacuolization of the cytoplasm and nonviable hepatocytes were observed after 12-hr reperfusion. These results indicate the greatest damages of the liver induced by 30-min ischemia following reperfusion is observed after 12-hr or 24-hr reperfusion. The liver injury by ischemia-reperfusion could be a useful experimental model to develop for future studies.