Protective effects of polyethylene glycol (20 mol/L) in phosphate-buffered sucrose for rat liver preservation.

THE USE of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in preservation solutions has been associated with a decreased incidence of rejection in clinical and experimental transplantation. Using the isolated perfused rat liver model, we found that PEG, when added to phosphate-buffered sucrose solution (PBSL), provided improved liver preservation. A direct comparison of three different molecular configurations of PEG in phosphate-buffered sucrose (PBSL) was carried out. The following solutions were studied in our isolated perfused rat liver (IPRL) model: ● PBSL-I (without PEG); ● PBSL-II (containing polyethylene glycol; MW 3350); ● PBSL-III (containing polyethylene glycol; MW 8000); and ● PBSL-IV (containing polyethylene glycol; MW 20,000).