Role of Virtual Touch Tissue Imaging Quantification in the Assessment of Hepatic Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome in a Rat Model

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the value of liver stiffness in rats with various degrees of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (HSOS) induced by monocrotaline by comparing liver histopathologic findings. Methods Seventy rats were randomly divided into a control group (n = 10), a low‐dose monocrotaline group (n = 30), and a high‐dose monocrotaline group (n = 30). After successful modeling, the liver shear wave velocity (SWV) by Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification (Siemens Medical Solutions, Mountain View, CA) and the alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total bilirubin levels of the groups were obtained on days 3 and 5, and the intergroup differences were compared. Liver histopathologic characteristics were analyzed to evaluate the degrees of HSOS, and the scores were recorded. Results On days 3 and 5, the total bilirubin, AST, and ALT, levels and liver SWV in the low‐ and high‐dose groups were elevated; the portal vein velocity (PVV) of these groups was decreased compared with the control group; and the high‐dose rats showed higher serum AST and ALT levels than the low‐dose rats. The high‐dose rats had a lower PVV than the low‐dose rats at day 3. The liver SWV values had significant correlations with the histologic score and PVV. In a multivariate analysis, the liver SWV (β = 0.813; P < .001) was independently associated with the histopathologic score. Conclusions Liver stiffness as measured by Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification increases with the severity of HSOS and can be recommended as a marker for diagnosis and assessment of HSOS.

Longitudinal ultrasound imaging and network modeling in rats reveal sex-dependent suppression of liver regeneration after resection in alcoholic liver disease

“…Importantly, stiffness measurements were below that which would be considered as fibrosis in rats (Hu et al, 2015;Hu et al, 2017), in line with the absence of fibrosis in previous histological studies of the alcoholfeeding model (Diehl, et al, 1990;Koniaris et al, 2003;Juskeviciute et al, 2016). However, we report increases in liver stiffness similar to what has been shown in a rat model of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (Han et al, 2019), as well as human transplant donors who underwent a liver resection (Ninomiya et al, 2011). Additionally, extracellular matrix rebuilding could contribute to elevated stiffness, but only at later time points (72 h post-PHx) when this rebuilding is thought to occur (Michalopoulos, 2010;Juskeviciute et al, 2016).…”

The value of hepatic venous pressure gradient in patients with pyrrolidine alkaloid-induced hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome

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