Rodent models of hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury: time and percentage-related pathophysiological mechanisms

Ischemia and reperfusion (IR) injury remains one of the major problems in liver surgery and transplantation, which determines the viability of the hepatic tissue after resection and of the grafted organ. This review aims to elucidate the mechanisms involved in IR injury of the liver in rodent experimental studies and the preventative methods and pharmacologic agents that have been applied. Many time- and percentage-related liver IR injury rodent models have been used to examine the pathophysiological mechanisms and the parameters implicated with different morbidity, mortality, and pathology findings. The most preferred experimental rodent model of liver IR is the induction of 70% IR for 45 min, which is associated with almost 100% survival. In this model, plasma levels of several parameters such as alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, endothelin-1, malonodialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 1b, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and caspases are increased. The increase of caspases is associated with the initiation of hepatic cellular apoptosis. The main injuries observed 24 h after reperfusion are nuclear pyknosis, cytoplasmic hypereosinophilia, severe necrosis, and loss of intercellular borders. Both ischemic pre- and post-conditioning preventative methods and pharmacologic agents are successfully applied to alleviate the IR injuries. The selection of the time- and percentage-related liver IR injury rodent model and the potential preventative method should be related to the clinical question being answered.