Fig 1.
Novel method of dissolving hydrogen gas in organ preservation solution by using a hydrogen-absorbing alloy canister.
(A) Mechanism of the hydrogen absorbing alloy. (B) Process of dissolving hydrogen in the organ preservation solution by using the hydrogen-absorbing alloy canister. (1) A hydrogen-absorbing alloy canister and a pressure regulating valve are connected to a bag of organ preservation solution. (2) Hydrogen gas is injected through the rubber stopper using a bottle needle. When the pressure reaches 0.06 Mpa, the bag of organ preservation solution is disconnected from the pressure regulating valve and hydrogen-absorbing alloy canister. (3) The organ preservation solution in the plastic bag is shaken vigorously by hand for more than 30 seconds. (4) The bag is opened to the atmosphere. (C) Components of the device for infusing hydrogen gas into organ preservation solutions.
Fig 2.
Changes of the hydrogen concentration in organ preservation solutions (UW, HTK, and ETK) at atmospheric pressure after infusion of hydrogen gas.
Fig 3.
Effectiveness of kidney flushing with hydrogen-containing ETK solution.
A. The kidneys were perfused for 5 minutes by gravity feed (1 m). One kidney each was perfused with hydrogen-containing ETK solution and hydrogen-free ETK solution. B. 1) Kidney perfused with hydrogen-containing ETK solution; 2) Kidney perfused with hydrogen-free ETK solution.
Table 1.
ETK solution perfusion rate by gravity feed (1 m).
Table 2.
Laboratory data on day 6 after kidney transplantation.
Fig 4.
Histological findings of the kidneys on day 6 after transplantation.
Specimen numbers correspond to those in Table 2. A, C, E, G: low magnification (40x), B, D, F, H: high magnification (400x). (A, B) A kidney preserved by using hydrogen-free ETK solution shows extensive necrosis in most of the microscopic field, indicating pan-necrosis of the cortex. (C-H) No cortical necrosis was observed in kidneys preserved by using hydrogen gas-containing ETK solution. However, tubular dilation and interstitial mononuclear cell infiltration are evident.
Table 3.
Detailed histopathological findings of transplanted kidneys preserved with hydrogen-containing ETK solution.