PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kwon, A-Hon
AU  - Inoue, Tomohisa
AU  - Ha-Kawa, Sang Kil
TI  - Characterization of the Asialoglycoprotein Receptor Under Hypoxic Conditions in Primary Cultured Rat Hepatocytes
DP  - 2005 Feb 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 321--325
VI  - 46
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/46/2/321.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/46/2/321.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2005 Feb 01; 46
AB  - Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury occurs in numerous clinical situations including liver transplantation and hepatic resection. Therefore, accurate functional assessment of hepatocytes and prevention of ischemia/reperfusion injury to hepatocytes would be important. 99mTc-Galactosyl-human serum albumin is a liver scintigraphic agent that binds to asialoglycoprotein receptors (ASGP-R) on hepatocytes. We determined the number of ASGP-R during hypoxic conditions in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. Methods: We used 3 durations of hypoxia (1, 2, and 3 h) for the cultured rat hepatocytes. The control incubation was performed under normoxic conditions (humidified 5% CO2 in air) for the entire experiment. The maximal binding of 99mTc-galactosyl-human serum albumin (Bmax) to the hepatocytes (plasma membrane and endocytosis) and ketone body ratio (KBR) in the medium were estimated. Results: The Bmax to hepatocytes and the KBR significantly decreased with time under the 3 different hypoxic conditions, whereas the cell counts of the hepatocytes did not decrease. Three hours after reoxygenation, the Bmax and KBR values that were decreased in the first 2 h of hypoxia reversed to control levels, but those Bmax and KBR values that were decreased after 3 h of hypoxia were irreversible. Conclusion: We conclude that the decrease in the number of ASGP-R per hepatocyte appears to be more significant than the decrease in the number of hepatocytes. Therefore, measurement of ASGP-R may provide an accurate assessment of hepatic function in the clinical setting of hepatic injury and recovery.