Experimental Organ Preservation

Organ Preservation Research

Welcome to the laboratory of James H. Southard, PhD in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin Clinical Sciences Center.

Dr. Folkert O. Belzer, a pioneering physician in the field of kidney transplantation, first established this laboratory in 1975.

In the late 1980's, this laboratory patented a universal, organ cold storage solution given the name UW Solution ( Viaspan ™; Belzer UW) and a kidney perfusion solution, which was named Belzer-MPS™. These solutions have allowed for the preservation and sharing of human organs for up to 48 hours before transplantation.

The primary interest of our lab is improving organ preservation for transplantation. The organs we study primarily are the kidney, liver, and heart, but have also included the lung, intestine and pancreas. Our studies utilize isolated cellular systems; isolated perfused organs and animal transplant models. The preservation of organs involves the use of three key elements: hypothermia (4° C) to slow metabolism, solution impermeants to reduce cellular swelling and biochemical agents to protect against cellular injury. The physiological phenomena we have investigated in relation to hypothermic preservation include among others:

Membrane structure and function
Tissue and cellular viability
Lipid peroxidation
Calcium transport
Phospholipid metabolism
Reperfusion injury
Hibernation
Energy metabolism
Warm ischemia
Donor factors

The main objective of our research is to improve preservation technology to allow for greater utilization of available donor organs and to achieve better quality organs for clinical transplantation .