ACUTE BLEEDING AND STORED RED BLOOD CELLS TRANSFUSION ATTENUATES LIVER REGENERATION FOLLOWING PARTIAL HEPATECTOMY

Our aim was to study the impact of bleeding and red blood cell (RBC) resuscitation on liver regeneration. We assessed the impact of RBC storage time on liver regeneration following 50% partial hepatectomy (PHx) in rats, and explored possible contributing molecular mechanisms using immunohistochemistry, RNA-Seq, and macrophage depletion. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were cannulated (femoral artery) for bleeding the animals (controlled haemorrhage; 3ml of blood was extracted at a rate of 1 ml/min) and for administration of blood/fluids (resuscitation). PHx- Resection of 50% of the total liver mass was performed. Liver samples were harvested from 3 rats / group on day one post PHx.