Adipose delivered stem cells protect liver after ischemia-reperfusion injury by controlling autophagy

Abstract

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is an unavoidable side effect of liver surgery and transplantation. A potentially useful tool for cellular therapy and tissue engineering is adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). The study's goal was to examine the impact of ADSCs in rat hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury. Material and methods: 30 male rats were randomly divided into the control, ADSCs, ischemia , I/R , I/R+ADSC groups (n = 6). A model for hepatic I/R injury that is evaluated by histological changes with Suzuki scores. The immunoexpression of LC3B, p62 and transforming growth factor (TGF- β)were analyzed. Results: The ischemia and I/R groups displayed clear liver sinusoid congestion, vacuolization, and necrosis. The expression of key autophagy indicators LC3B increased whereas p62 decreased following ischemia reperfusion. TGF- β was significantly elevated in the rat liver from ischemia and I/R groups. The IRI-induced histopathological damage was improved by ADSC transplantation. Conclusion: ADSCs reduced the excessive level of the autophagy and structural damage to hepatocytes and the pathological alterations in the liver after ıschemia-reperfusion injury.