AUTHOR=Xie Shuangshuang , Qiu Caixin , Sun Yajie , Yu Yongquan , Hu Zhandong , Zhang Kun , Chen Lihua , Cheng Yue , Bao Mingzhu , Zhang Quansheng , Zhu Jinxia , Grimm Robert , Shen Wen 

TITLE=Assessment of Fibrotic Liver Regeneration After Partial Hepatectomy With Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion-Weighted Imaging: An Experimental Study in a Rat Model With Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Liver Injury

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.822763

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.822763

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>To determine whether intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) parameters correlate with liver regeneration and function recovery after partial hepatectomy (PH) in rats with carbon tetrachloride (CCl<sub>4</sub>)-induced liver fibrosis.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Sixty-two adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into the control group and the fibrosis group with CCl<sub>4</sub> injection for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8th week, all rats received left lateral lobe liver resection. Within each group, IVIM imaging (<italic>n</italic> = 10/group) and histologic and biochemical analyses (<italic>n</italic> = 3/group/time point) were performed pre- and post-PH (on days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 21). Differences in liver IVIM parameters and correlation between IVIM parameters and Ki-67 indices, hepatocyte diameter, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total bilirubin (TBil) values were analyzed.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Post-PH, liver true diffusion coefficient (D) values decreased and pseudodiffusion coefficient (D*) and perfusion fraction (PF) values increased, then recovered to pre-PH levels gradually in both fibrosis and control rats. PF in fibrosis group were significantly higher than in controls from 3 to 21 days (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). In fibrosis rats, both Ki-67 indices and hepatocyte diameters increased, and a strong correlation was found between PF and Ki-67 indices (<italic>r</italic> = −0.756; <italic>P</italic> = 0.03), D* and PF values and ALT, AST, and TBil values (<italic>r</italic> = −0.762 to −0.905; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). In control rats, only hepatocyte diameters increased, and all IVIM parameters correlated well with hepatocyte diameters, ALT, AST and TBil values (<italic>r</italic> = 0.810 to −1.000; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The regeneration pattern in fibrotic liver tissue was different compared with control livers. IVIM parameters can monitor liver regeneration and functional recovery non-invasively after PH.</p></sec>