Hypothermic preservation of the rat pancreas

Abstract

A number of papers report varying degrees of success in short-term preservation of the pancreas: techniques studied include hypothermia after initial perfusion, continuous hypothermic perfusion, hypothermia combined with hyperbaric oxygen and cryopreservation. The simplest approach, initial perfusion followed by storage at 0-4 °C, has proved effective for 24 h using a ‘protide gel’ solution¹, fructose-bicarbonate solution², modified cryoprecipitated plasma³, Collins’ C3 solution⁴ or Sacks’ solution⁵. The only report of effective 48 h preservation used a preliminary perfusiqn with plasma supplemented by potassium, glucose and albumin to produce a total osmolality of 450mosmol/kg⁵. Similarly, continuous perfusion using cryoprecipitated plasma^4,6,7 or purified human albumin solution² has been effective for 24 h storage, some investigators stressing the need for a low perfusion pressure^7,8 and the inclusion of methylprednisolone⁹. However, direct comparisons of initial perfusion with continuous perfusion have failed to show any benefit from the more complex continuous perfusion method^2–4. The use of hyperbaric oxygen likewise confers no apparent advantage¹⁰, and cryopreservation of the whole pancreas is clearly inferior¹¹. Thus, the available evidence suggests that the simplest approach, that of initial perfusion with a chilled solution, followed by storage at 0–4 °C gives results at 24 h that are as good as any more complicated method.