Abstract: Objective To construct a modified mice model associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) without relying on microsurgical techniques, and to verify its effectiveness in stimulating liver regeneration. Methods Seventy-five adult C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: ALPPS-microsurgery (ALPPS-micro) group, ALPPS-matrigel blocking (ALPPS-matri) group and matrigel blocking control (Control-matri) group. The ALPPS-micro group and the ALPPS-matri group were treated with microscopic ligation and matrigel injection to block the portal vein blood flow, respectively. The Control-matri group served as a control group to verify the effectiveness and safety of this surgery. Data of operation time, intraoperative bleeding and perioperative survival were recorded, and blood and liver samples were collected at different time points after surgery. The effects of different operations on liver regeneration were compared by measuring the ratio of liver weight to body weight (LBR) and detecting the expression levels of proliferation-related molecules Cyclin D1 and Ki-67. Results Compared with the ALPPS-micro group, the ALPPS-matri group had shorter operation time [(19.0±4.6) min vs (37.5±9.3) min, P<0.05], less intraoperative bleeding [(153±39) mL vs (317±124) mL, P<0.05], and lower mortality of Ⅰ stage surgery (4.0% vs 20.0%, P<0.05). The detection results of LBR and the expression levels of proliferation-related molecules suggested that the ALPPS-matri group showed a similar effect on stimulating liver regeneration as the ALPPS-micro group. Conclusion Compared with the traditional microsurgery-based ALPPS model, the modified ALPPS model using matrigel has a similar effect on liver regeneration with shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding, and lower perioperative mortality.

Key words: Hepatectomy, Liver regeneration, Animal model, Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy, Mice