Ischemia reperfusion injury of the marginal liver : identification and evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies

The need for liver grafts has constantly increased in the past decades. The discrepancy between the declining availability of donor organs and the exponentially growing demand has becoming more and more obvious. To expand the donor organ pool by accepting marginal organs such as steatotic livers and aged livers is one of the strategies to solve this problem. However it is well accepted that marginal livers are more vulnerable to ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI), which is considered as one of the major risks of post-operative morbidity and mortality. Recent studies suggested that there were common mechanisms involved in both steatosis respectively senescence and the IRI processes. We hypothesized that therapeutic strategies targeting these common mechanisms might be especially useful in protecting marginal livers from IRI. We put our emphasis on exploring the common mechanisms in senescence/steatosis process and IRI process. We also aimed to identify and to evaluate one of these therapeutic strategies targeting the common mechanisms to protect steatotic livers from IRI. Furthermore, we discuss common mechanisms and suggest novel therapeutic strategies targeting common mechanisms in all three, steatosis, senescence and IRI processes. ...