Exchange Blood Transfusion for Acute Hepatic Failure: Its Limited Availability Depending on the Type of Injury in Rats

Abstract

The efficacy of exchange blood transfusion for acute hepatic failure was evaluated using rats. Rats receiving a dose of carbon tetrachloride died later than 24 h after dosing. When their blood was replaced with blood from normal rats at 24 h, survival time was prolonged, and hepatic protein synthesis was enhanced at 36 h with improved prothrombin time (PT). Those rats surviving 120 h showed better histological grade of recovery from injury after treatment. In contrast, dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)‐mtoxicated rats showed no such improvement in survival time or PT. In rats given a nonfatal dose of carbon tetrachloride, serum glutamic‐pyruvic transaminase values were five times higher than those in rats given DMN despite similar maximal PT. The benefit of exchange transfusion for acute hepatic failure may differ depending on the mechanism of development in rats. Enhanced hepatic protein synthesis may contribute to its effect.