Synthesis of Serum Albumin in Isolated Rat Liver Perfused by a Synthetic Medium with Fluorocarbon FG–80 Emulsion as Oxygen Carrier

A fluorocarbon emulsion FC-80 has been used as a substitute for erythrocytes in a synthetic nutrition medium in in vitro perfusions of isolated rat livers. The rate of albumin synthesis was estimated. After the first hour albumin was synthesised at a constant rate of 0.52 + 0.17 mg/h per 100 g of the body weight of the liver donor. ¹⁴C-lysine was incorporated into the circulating proteins linearly after the first hour. Other parameters tested were: levels of circulating proteins, urea nitrogen, glucose, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, excretion of bile, weight changes of the liver, and level of glycogen in liver tissue after perfusion. Histological examinations were also performed. The function of the liver was comparable with the findings of other investigators who used whole blood as the perfusate. As far as we are aware this is the first time that a rat liver has been maintained in good functional condition for over 6 hours during in vitro perfusions with a synthetic medium that included an erythrocyte substitute. The method seems to offer great advantages for the study of metabolic processes.