Abstract:Objective: To investigate whether the method of bridgy duct established between the recipient's spleen artery and the donor's gastroduodenal artery could inhibit the apoptosis of liver and bile duct cells caused by hepatic artery ischemia.Methods: Twenty-four mongrel dogs from Xi'an area were used to establish simplified models of dog orthotopic liver transplantation and divided into three groups randomly: HAI group (hepatic artery ischemia group),BBB group (bypassing the blood by a bridgy duct) and control group. After cold perfusion, The samples were collected from liver and bile duct in each group at different time and fixed in glutaraldehyde and 4﹪ polyformaldehyde respectively. At last, the apoptosis of liver and bile duct cells were observed and the apoptotic indexes were calculated. Results: Two hours after cold perfusion, apoptotic phenomenon was common in HAI group, rare in BBB group, while no apoptotic phenomenon was observed in control group. TUNEL staining showed that there was no significant difference in apoptotic index among the three groups immediately after cold perfusion. However, with time going, the apoptotic cells were increased in three groups, and the difference in apoptotic index was significant among three groups (P < 0.01 ). Conclusion: Bridgy duct of hepatic artery can inhibit the apoptosis of liver and bile duct cells caused by HAI significantly.