Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of congestion/reperfusion injury (CRI) and ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) on
remnant liver in rats after hepatectomy. Methods Male SD rats were divided into IRI, CRI, and control groups. In the former
two groups, the left lateral lobe of the rats were subjected to IRI or CRI for 30 min with the rest lobes (about 70% of the total
liver weight) resected; the rats in the control group received hepatectomy preserving only the left lateral lobe. The mortality
rate of the rats was recorded, and the surviving rats were sacrificed at 1, 3 and 7 days after operation for analyses of ICG
plasma disappearance rate (ICG-PDR), ALT, AST, liver regeneration rate, and Ki-67 labeling index. Results The mortality rate
was significantly higher in CRI group (34.3%) than in IRI group (8%, P<0.05) and control group (4%, P<0.01). On day 1
following hepatectomy, CRI group showed significantly higher liver enzyme levels and poorer liver functions than the control
group (P<0.05) without significant differences from those in IRI group (P>0.05); Ki-67 labeling index in CRI group was
significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.01) and IRI group (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, CRI
group showed a significantly lowered maximum Ki-67 labeling index with also a delayed occurrence (P<0.01); CRI resulted in
poorer liver regeneration rate on day 3 after hepatectomy compared to the control group (P<0.01) and IRI (P<0.05). Conclusion
Compared with IRI, CRI can result in severer liver damage and lowered liver regenerative capacity in rats early after
hepatectomy.