Abstract
Relationships between preservation injury and mucosal recovery of the graft intestine were investigated histologically, immunohistochemically and by computer morphometry. Rat graft intestines (n=9) were preserved with cold lactated Ringer's solution for 0, 6 and 12 hours and then used for orthotopic small bowel transplantation with pulse labeling of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) in the reperfusion period. Samples of the graft intestine were collected 1, 24 and 48 hours after transplantation and examined histologically and immunohistologically with anti-BrdU antibody. Histological examination showed that the grades of tissue damage after reperfusion were related to the duration of the graft cold ischemia. Morphometric analysis of labeled cells with NIH image on Macintosh computer revealed that both the labeling index 1 hour after surgery and the migrating velocity of the labeled cells 24 and 48 hours after surgery were higher in the order of 6, 12 and 0 hour preservation. these results indicate that preservation injury to the graft intestine would stimulate the proliferating activity of crypt cells resulting in the immediate recovery from the mucosal barrier damage, while the excessive injury suppressed the regenerative reaction. We conclude that our new methods of computer morphometry and analysis should be applicable to transplantation pathology.
