Abstract: Abstract：Objective To explore a reliable method of 70% hepatectomy model in liver fibrosis mice. Methods Sixty-six C57BL6 mice were randomly devided into control group (n=6), the traditional group (n=30, ligation and removal liver lobe) and improved group (n=30, removal of liver lobe after blocking blood flow). Those 60 mice were induced liver fibrosis firstly, then randomly divided into six mice in each group, and were sacrificed at preoperative, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after liver resection. Liver tissues and blood samples were collected. The survival rate and incidence of complications were recorded and compared between two groups. The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured to observe the liver injury after 70% hepatectomy. The ratio of liver weight to body weight and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were also measured to observe the difference of liver regeneration between the two groups. Results (1) Compared to the pathological control group, liver fibrosis model was established successfully in both traditional group and improved group, which can be used in 70% hepatectomy. So the followup experiment can be undertook timely. (2) Compared to traditional group, the survival rate was improved significantly in improved group (96.67% vs. 73.33%), and the incidence of complications was significantly lower (P＜0.05). (3) The ALT and AST levels were higher 12 h and 24 h after operation in traditional group than those of improved group (P＜0.05), while ALT and AST levels were increased first 12 h after operation and then decreased in both groups (P＜0.05). (4) The liver/body weight ratio showed a decreasing trend 12 h after hepatectomy in two groups. The expression of PCNA increased at the beginning of postoperative, and reached its peak at 48 h (P＜0.05). However, there was no significant difference at each time point between the two groups. Conclusion By blocking blood flow to establish 70% hepatectomy model in liver fibrosis mice, we can significantly improve the success rate of the model, and reduce the incidence of complications.

Key words: hepatectomy, liver regeneration, postoperative complications, liver cirrhosis, experimental, mice, inbred
C57BL, disease models, animal