Two experimental liver studies have been added to Transplant Related Evidence. Published in 2015 and 2018, they address complementary questions: how reliably a perfusion system works, and how a change in perfusate affects the organ. Revisiting them helps define what future oxygen-delivery experiments should measure.
System performance and organ response
Nassar and colleagues studied 20 pig livers after warm ischemia. Fifteen underwent normothermic perfusion and five cold storage, followed by transplant simulation. They reported no system failures and better functional and histological findings with normothermic perfusion. This was an ex vivo model, without transplantation into recipient animals.
A controlled test of the perfusate
Beal and colleagues developed a rat liver perfusion model and tested PEG-catalase, an antioxidant enzyme added to the perfusate. ALT was lower at later sampling points; ATP, glutathione, lipid peroxidation and apoptosis were also assessed. The comparison involved three animals per group and no subsequent transplantation.
The practical lesson is to define the question before choosing the endpoint. Circuit reliability, biochemical injury, metabolic activity and organ function answer different questions. A study can demonstrate a useful experimental method while leaving later graft performance unresolved. Small exploratory experiments help select hypotheses for larger comparative studies.
Questions for BHOC research
For BHOC, Biological Hemoglobin Oxygen Carrier, we believe controlled ex vivo systems could help investigate how a characterized oxygen carrier affects organ support. A proposed evaluation would connect oxygen delivery and consumption with ATP, tissue injury, oxidative stress and function under defined flow and temperature conditions. These are research questions for Precision Oxygen Therapeutics.
Our earlier report on Yang and colleagues' low-cost perfusion platform described an additional step: assessing kidney function after autotransplantation. That distinction matters when planning how an ex vivo observation will be tested after an organ returns to the body.
Neither liver study evaluated BHOC. Any BHOC comparison would require a defined formulation, appropriate controls and its own organ-specific evidence.
Read the methods, findings, limitations and original publication links in the Nassar record and Beal record. The publication years identify the original research; 13 October 2026 is the date of this analysis and catalogue addition.