Investigating different liver perfusion conditions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study to evaluate the effects of different perfusion conditions during ex situ liver perfusion on RNA transcription
IRAS ID
295373
Contact name
Christopher Watson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Liver transplantation is a life-saving treatment that is limited by shortage of organs, but 40% of livers from deceased organ donors in the UK are not used, often because of uncertainty whether the donated liver will work after transplantation.
It is now possible to restore a blood supply to a liver outside the body to enable assessment of how well it works, and thus to allow an informed decision to be made as to whether to use the liver. This is called ex situ machine perfusion, where perfusion refers to the passage of blood into the liver.
The “blood” is actually a mixture of red blood cells and other plasma-like components, but neither these nor the actual protocol for starting perfusion have been optimised. This study will use changes in gene expression to assess the effects of restoring the circulation in different ways, and the effects of slight alterations in the composition of the perfusate (“blood”) to try to reduce the adverse effects of restoring a blood supply ("reperfusion injury"), and thus improve the liver's function when it comes to transplantation.
The hope is once suitable candidates are identified by the gene expression studies that we can take these observations forward into a large scale multicentre study using liver transplant survival as an endpoint.REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EE/0177
Date of REC Opinion
7 Sep 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion