Background

Both short- and long-term outcomes of all organ transplants depend on the quality of the organ. Presently there is no completely reliable method to evaluate the condition of organs removed from deceased donors before transplantation. Given the central role of mitochondria in executing normal cellular activities, we hypothesize that measurements of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) may correlate with ischemic injury and graft function.

Methods

Kidneys with or without warm ischemia from Lewis rats were harvested and preserved in cold UW solution. Mitochondria were isolated from kidney tissues at different cold preservation time points and MMP measurements were taken using the fluorescent JC-1 probe. To measure graft function, kidneys with extended cold ischemia time were transplanted into syngeneic Lewis recipients.

Results

MMP in kidneys without warm ischemia time remained at high levels (>4000 RFU/ug) for 72 hours following cold ischemia in UW solution. By contrast, MMP in kidneys with warm ischemia declined rapidly beginning 24 hours after cold ischemia in UW solution. In both models, decreased MMP correlated with graft non-function and animal death after transplantation.

Conclusion

Measurements of mitochondrial function that reflect overall tissue health could serve as a final common readout for all risk factors and injurious stimuli, and correlate with kidney graft function in the early post-operative period.

CITATION INFORMATION: Chen M, Huang J, Qi L, Kwon S, Montgomery R, Sun Z. Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Correlates with Ischemic Injury and Kidney Graft Function in Rats. Am J Transplant. 2016;16 (suppl 3).

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