New progress in donor protection for liver transplantation

Liver transplantation is the unique effective life-saving procedure for patients suffering from end-stage liver diseases. The gap between the number of donor graft and patients in waiting lists dramatically increased and the shortage of donors becomes a severe challenge in liver transplantation. At present, the organ donation after death is the only source of organ transplantation in China. Ischemia-reperfusion injury significantly affects the quality of donor liver and the prognosis of recipient transplantation. Therefore, reasonable and effective organ protection techniques and strategies have received much concern in recent years. Here we reviewed the new progress in donor liver preservation and retrieval, surgical ischemia conditioning, drug intervention as well as gene therapy. Key words: Liver transplantation; Reperfusion injury; Donor protection