1. Optimized Partial Freezing Protocol Enables 10-Day Storage of Rat Livers.
- Author
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Ozgur OS, Taggart MS, Mojoudi M, Pendexter C, Kharga A, Yeh H, Toner M, Longchamp A, Tessier SN, and Uygun K
- Abstract
Preserving organs at subzero temperatures with halted metabolic activity holds the potential to prolong preservation and expand the donor organ pool for transplant. Our group recently introduced partial freezing, a novel approach in high-subzero storage at -15°C, enabling 5 days storage of rodent livers through precise control over ice nucleation and unfrozen fraction. However, increased vascular resistance and tissue edema suggested a need for improvements to extend viable preservation. Here, we describe an optimized partial freezing protocol with key optimizations including increased concentration of propylene glycol to reduce ice recrystallization and maintained osmotic balance through an increase in bovine serum albumin, all while minimizing sheer stress during cryoprotectant unloading with an acclimation period. These approaches ensured the viability during preservation and recovery processes, promoting liver function and ensuring optimal preservation. This was evidenced by increased oxygen consumption, decreased vascular resistance and edema. Ultimately, we show that using the optimized protocol, livers can be stored for 10 days with comparable vascular resistance and lactate levels to 5 days, outperforming the viability of time-matched cold stored livers as the current gold standard. This study represents a significant advancement in expanding organ availability through prolonged preservation and thereby revolutionizing transplant medicine., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests Some authors declare competing interests. Drs. Uygun, Tessier, Yeh and Toner have patent applications relevant to this study. Drs. Uygun, Tessier and Toner have a financial interest in and serve on the Scientific Advisory Board for Sylvatica Biotech Inc., a company focused on developing high subzero organ preservation technology. Competing interests for MGH investigators are managed by the MGH and MGB in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies. All the remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Published
- 2024
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