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Regeneration of Liver in Rats in the Absence of Portal Splanchnic Organs and a Portal Blood Supply¹

John Collins Warren Laboratories of the Huntington Memorial Hospital of Harvard University at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Rats were eviscerated of portal splanchnic organs; the stomach, intestines, pancreas, and spleen were excised and the portal vein was ligated and sectioned, leaving the hepatic artery as the sole purveyor of blood to the liver. The animals were maintained for 24 or 48 hr by continuous i.v. infusion. Partial hepatectomy at the time of evisceration induced substantial increases in DNA synthesis and mitosis, although these responses were somewhat delayed and less pronounced than in noneviscerated, hepatectomized controls. Thus it now seems open to question whether so-called portal blood hepatotrophic factors are the primary regulators of hepatic regeneration, although insulin has not been entirely excluded. In rats, as previously demonstrated in dogs, evisceration does not prevent hepatic regeneration. In rats, at least, the hepatic artery alone is capable of supporting active liver cell proliferation.

¹ This work was supported by NIH Grant CA02146-16, USPHS, and by Grant DRG-1210 from the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research, Inc. This is Publication 1451 of the Cancer Commission of Harvard University.

Received 7/23/73. Accepted 9/14/73.

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