Nils A. 't Hart

The isolated perfused rat liver: standardization of a time-honoured model

For many years, the isolated perfused rat liver (IPRL) model has been used to investigate the physiology and pathophysiology of the rat liver. This in vitro model provides the opportunity to assess cellular injury and liver function in an isolated setting. This review offers an update of recent developments regarding the IPRL set-up as well as the viability parameters that are used, with regards to liver preservation and ischaemia and reperfusion mechanisms. A review of the literature was performed into studies regarding liver preservation or liver ischaemia and reperfusion. An overview of the literature is given with particular emphasis on perfusate type and volume, reperfusion pressure, flow, temperature, duration of perfusion, oxygenation and on applicable viability parameters (liver damage and function). The choice of IPRL set-up depends on the question examined and on the parameters of interest. A standard technique is cannulation of the portal vein, bile duct and caval vein with pressure-controlled perfusion at 20 cm H2O (15 mmHg) to reach a perfusion flow of approximately 3 mL/min/g liver weight. The preferred perfusion solution is Krebs–Henseleit buffer, without albumin. The usual volume is 150–300 cm3, oxygenated to a pO2 of more than 500 mmHg. The temperature of the perfusate is maintained at 37°C. Standardized markers should be used to allow comparison with other experiments.

Oxygenation during hypothermic rat liver preservation : an in vitro slice study to demonstrate beneficial or toxic oxygenation effects

Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) of abdominal organs is shown to be superior compared to cold storage. However, the question remains if oxygenation is required during preservation as oxygen is essential for energy resynthesis but also generates toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). To determine if oxygenation should be used during HMP, urea‐synthesis rate, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and generation of ROS were studied in an in vitro model, modeling ischemia‐reperfusion injury. Furthermore, expression of uncoupling protein‐2 (UCP‐2) mRNA was assessed since UCP‐2 is a potentially protective protein against ROS. Rat liver slices were preserved for 0, 24, and 48 hr in University of Wisconsin machine perfusion solution (UW‐MP) with 0%, 21%, or 95% oxygen at 0‐4°C and reperfused for 24 hours. In the 0% and 95% groups, an increase of ROS was found after cold storage in UW‐MP. After slice reperfusion, only the 0% oxygen group showed higher levels. The 0% group showed a lower urea‐synthesis rate as well as lower ATP levels. mRNA upregulation of UCP‐2 was, in contrast to kidney mRNA studies, not observed. In conclusion, oxygenation of UW‐MP gave better results. This study also shows that ROS formation occurs during hypothermic preservation and the liver is not protected by UCP‐2. We conclude that saturation of UW‐MP with 21% oxygen allows optimal preservation results. (Liver Transpl 2005;11:1403–1411.)

Determination of an adequate perfusion pressure for continuous dual vessel hypothermic machine perfusion of the rat liver.

Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) provides better protection against ischemic damage of the kidney compared to cold‐storage. The required perfusion pressures needed for optimal HMP of the liver are, however, unknown. Rat livers were preserved in University of Wisconsin organ preservation solution enriched with acridine orange (AO) to stain viable cells and propidium iodide (PI) to detect dead cells. Perfusion pressures of 12.5%, 25% or 50% of physiologic perfusion pressures were compared. Intravital fluorescence microscopy was used to assess liver perfusion by measuring the percentage of AO staining. After 1‐h, the perfusion pressure of 12.5% revealed 72% ± 3% perfusion of mainly the acinary zones one and two. The perfusion pressure of 25% and 50% showed complete perfusion. Furthermore, 12.5% showed 14.7 ± 3.6, 25% showed 3.7 ± 0.9, and 50% showed 11.2 ± 1.4 PI positive cells. One hour was followed by another series of experiments comprising 24‐h preservation. In comparison with 24‐h cold‐storage, HMP at 25% showed less PI positive cells and HMP at 50% showed more PI positive cells. In summary, perfusion at 25% showed complete perfusion, demonstrated by AO staining, with minimal cellular injury, shown with PI. This study indicates that fine‐tuning of the perfusion pressure is crucial to balance (in)complete perfusion and endothelial injury.

Initial Blood Washout During Organ Procurement Determines Liver Injury and Function After Preservation and Reperfusion

Organ procurement is the first step toward effective liver preservation and comprises a thorough washout of blood components from the microvasculature. To study the efficacy of optimal blood washout of the liver, three groups were compared including low‐pressure perfusion with UW‐CSS (12 mmHg, group A), which is the routine method in clinical practice, high‐pressure perfusion with UW‐CSS (100 mmHg, group B) and low‐pressure perfusion with modified UW solution (12 mmHg, group C). After procurement all livers were preserved in original UW‐CSS for 0, 24 or 48 h, followed by reperfusion in oxygenated Williams Medium E for 24 h at 37 °C. Histology results of livers procured in group A, showed good hepatocyte viability but also remaining erythrocytes. However, injury parameters were high and ATP concentrations were low. No functional differences were found. Group B, high pressure, and group C, modified UW‐CSS, both showed better results. High‐pressure washout is preferable since the warm ischemia time during procurement is short. We propose to use high‐pressure UW‐CSS perfusion for the initial blood washout of the donor liver instead of the usually used low‐pressure washout.

Brain death induces inflammation in the donor intestine

Background. Brain death donors are frequently used for transplantation. Previous studies showed that brain death (BD) negatively affects the immunological and inflammatory status of both liver and kidney. Because the intestine is increasingly used as a donor organ and no information on effects of BD on small intestine is available we performed this study. Methods. We studied the inflammatory and apoptotic changes in donor intestine after BD induction. Brain death was induced in rats by inflation of a balloon catheter. Three groups (n=6) were compared: 1-hr BD, 4-hr BD, and sham-operated controls. Results. An increased polymorphonuclear cell influx in ileum, as a measure of inflammation, was observed in 1- and 4-hr BD group compared with controls. Jejunum showed a significant increase at the 4-hr BD group compared with the control group. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, E-selectin, and interleukin-6 were upregulated after 1- and 4-hr BD. Caspase-3 positive cells were found in jejunum and ileum after 4-hr BD on the top of the villi. Serum interleukin-6 was severely elevated in the 1- and 4-hr brain dead rats. Conclusion. These data show the early occurrence of intestinal inflammation and apoptosis after BD induction. These events may ultimately have a negative influence on the outcome of intestinal transplantation.

The gradual onset brain death model: a relevant model to study organ donation and its consequences on the outcome after transplantation

Organs used for transplantation are usually derived from heart-beating brain dead donors. However, brain death is known to have negative effects on donor organ quality, previously studied using a difficult to control sudden onset experimental model. We have now developed a reproducible gradual onset brain death model in rats without requiring inotropic support. Fisher inbred rats weighing 260–300 g were used. Brain death was induced by a gradual inflation of a subdurally placed balloon catheter. During induction and the period following brain death, the animals were mechanically ventilated and blood pressure was continuously monitored. The blood pressure registration showed a characteristic pattern during brain death induction, in which a decrease in blood pressure, a hypotensive period in which the Cushing response occurred, and a sharp peak were consistent findings. After brain death was induced, blood pressure was maintained at normotensive levels up to 4 h. After the experiments, neuropathological evaluation of the brain located haemorrhagic cerebral parenchyma, and immunocytochemistry of liver tissue revealed a significant influx of polymorph nuclear cells, as was previously observed as well. This improved model allows the study of brain death on donor organ quality without the use of inotropic support.

Pyrosequencing Analysis of EGFR and KRAS Mutations in EUS and EBUS-Derived Cytologic Samples of Adenocarcinomas of the Lung

Introduction: Patients with stage IV non–small-cell lung cancer harboring an activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation are eligible for treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. With pyrosequencing, low-frequency mutations may be detected more easily even in small diagnostic samples like endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspirations (EUS-FNA) and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspirations (EBUS-TBNA). The diagnostic performance of pyrosequencing in analyzing cytological specimens is compared with the routinely used high-resolution melting (HRM) and Sanger sequencing. Methods: Patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung were selected from a fine needle aspiration and transbronchial needle aspiration specimen database. If formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor blocks were available, mutation analysis was performed for EGFR and V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog genes using both pyrosequencing and HRM. When HRM showed abnormalities, Sanger sequencing was used. Results: A total of 126 samples were available for mutation analysis. The analysis success rate for pyrosequencing and HRM were 97% and 93%, respectively. HRM failures were observed in fragmented DNA showing chains of 100 to 200 bp. A significant correlation between length of DNA fragments (100–300 bp versus 300–400 bp) and mean sample age (797 versus 317 days) was found (p < 0.0001), suggesting an influence of sample age on DNA quality. Conclusion: Pyrosequencing on cytological blocks, especially older tumor blocks, is feasible with a high diagnostic success rate. Failures in HRM were observed in DNA samples with short fragments related to longer storage times.

Gradual Rewarming with Gradual Increase in Pressure during Machine Perfusion after Cold Static Preservation Reduces Kidney Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

In this study we evaluated whether gradual rewarming after the period of cold ischemia would improve organ quality in an Isolated Perfused Kidney Model. Left rat kidneys were statically cold stored in University of Wisconsin solution for 24 hours at 4°C. After cold storage kidneys were rewarmed in one of three ways: perfusion at body temperature (38°C), or rewarmed gradually from 10°C to 38°C with stabilization at 10°C for 30 min and rewarmed gradually from 10°C to 38°C with stabilization at 25°C for 30 min. In the gradual rewarming groups the pressure was increased stepwise to 40 mmHg at 10°C and 70 mmHg at 25°C to counteract for vasodilatation leading to low perfusate flows. Renal function parameters and injury biomarkers were measured in perfusate and urine samples. Increases in injury biomarkers such as aspartate transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase in the perfusate were lower in the gradual rewarming groups versus the control group. Sodium re-absorption was improved in the gradual rewarming groups and reached significance in the 25°C group after ninety minutes of perfusion. HSP-70, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 mRNA expressions were decreased in the 10°C and 25°C groups. Based on the data kidneys that underwent gradual rewarming suffered less renal parenchymal, tubular injury and showed better endothelial preservation. Renal function improved in the gradual rewarming groups versus the control group.

Dichotomous ALK-IHC is a better predictor for ALK inhibition outcome than traditional ALK-FISH in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose: ALK rearrangement detection using FISH is the standard test to identify patients with non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) eligible for treatment with ALK inhibitors. Recently, ALK protein expression in resectable NSCLC showed predictive value. We evaluated tumor response rate and survival after crizotinib treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC with ALK activation using both dichotomous immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and FISH. Experimental Design: Patients with stage IV NSCLC treated with crizotinib were selected. Tumor response was assessed. ALK rearrangements were detected by FISH (Vysis ALK-break-apart FISH-Probe KIT) and IHC [Ventana ALK (D5F3) CDx assay]. Cohorts of patients with ALK-FISH–positive advanced NSCLC from four other hospitals were used for validation. Results: Twenty-nine consecutive patients with ALK-positive advanced NSCLC diagnosed by FISH and/or IHC on small biopsies or fine-needle aspirations (FNA) were treated with ALK inhibitors. All ALK-IHC–positive patients responded to crizotinib except three with primary resistance. No tumor response was observed in 13 ALK-FISH–positive but ALK-IHC–negative patients. This was confirmed in an external cohort of 16 patients. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves for ALK-IHC and ALK-FISH compared with treatment outcome showed that dichotomous ALK-IHC outperforms ALK-FISH [tumor response area under the curve: (AUC), 0.86 vs. 0.64, P = 0.03; progression-free survival (PFS): AUC 0.86 vs. 0.36, P = 0.005; overall survival (OS): AUC, 0.78 vs. 0.41, P = 0.01, respectively]. Conclusions: Dichotomous ALK-IHC is superior to ALK-FISH on small biopsies and FNA to predict tumor response and survival to crizotinib for patients with advanced NSCLC. Our data strongly suggest adapting the guidelines and using dichotomous ALK-IHC as standard companion diagnostic test to select patients with NSCLC who benefit from ALK-targeting therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4251–8. ©2017 AACR.

A stitch in time saves nine: external quality assessment rounds demonstrate improved quality of biomarker analysis in lung cancer

Biomarker analysis has become routine practice in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To ensure high quality testing, participation to external quality assessment (EQA) schemes is essential. This article provides a longitudinal overview of the EQA performance for EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 analyses in NSCLC between 2012 and 2015. The four scheme years were organized by the European Society of Pathology according to the ISO 17043 standard. Participants were asked to analyze the provided tissue using their routine procedures. Analysis scores improved for individual laboratories upon participation to more EQA schemes, except for ROS1 immunohistochemistry (IHC). For EGFR analysis, scheme error rates were 18.8%, 14.1% and 7.5% in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. For ALK testing, error rates decreased between 2012 and 2015 by 5.2%, 3.2% and 11.8% for the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), FISH digital, and IHC subschemes, respectively. In contrast, for ROS1 error rates increased between 2014 and 2015 for FISH and IHC by 3.2% and 9.3%. Technical failures decreased over the years for all three markers. Results show that EQA contributes to an ameliorated performance for most predictive biomarkers in NSCLC. Room for improvement is still present, especially for ROS1 analysis.