Biliary epithelial cells proliferate during oxygenated ex situ liver culture

Biliary complications remain a major source of morbidity in liver transplant patients. Among these complications, nonanastomotic biliary strictures (NAS) are especially common and they are frequently therapy resistant in part because biliary epithelial cells are more sensitive to warm ischemic injury than hepatocytes. It has been a challenge to maintain the physiological function of biliary epithelial cells during liver transplantation. In this work, we have examined the effect of oxygen on proliferation of biliary epithelial cells in the rat livers obtained from donation after circulatory death (DCD). Twelve rat livers from DCD were divided into two groups. Livers in the control group were isolated following a standard procedure without oxygen supply. Livers in the experimental group were isolated with a constant supply of oxygen. All livers were then connected to an ex situ liver culture system in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine analogue and a marker for cell proliferation. After 6 hours of normothermic ex situ liver culture, morphology and DNA replication in hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells were assessed and compared between the two groups. We found that about 4.5% of the biliary epithelial cells in the experimental group proliferated compared with only 0.4% of cells in the control based on BrdU staining. No significant change in cell morphology was observed in those cells between the two groups. Thus, our results indicate that oxygen supply is required for maintenance of the physiological function of biliary epithelial cells during liver transplant and suggest that a constant oxygen supply during liver isolation along with ex situ liver organ culture can enhance the repair of biliary epithelial cell injury during liver transplantation.