title: Effects of glucose concentration in the medium on rat hepatocyte culture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the optimum culture conditions by investigating isolated rat hepatocytes cultured in medium containing different glucose concentrations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hepatocytes were isolated from rats using a two-step perfusion technique and divided into the following two groups cultured in medium containing different glucose concentrations: (1) low-glucose group and (2) high-glucose group. Total cell count and viability of cultured rat hepatocytes and liver function parameters (i.e., concentrations of albumin, ammonia, and urea in the culture medium) were measured. The morphology of cultured rat hepatocytes was examined by staining with hematoxylin and eosin, and albumin receptor expression was confirmed by immunofluorescence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total cell count and viability showed smaller increases in the low-glucose group than the high-glucose group, although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.112 and P = 0.147, respectively). The levels of albumin (P = 0.943), ammonia (P = 0.744), and urea (P = 0.709) were not significantly different between the two groups. In both groups, the function of cultured hepatocytes decreased significantly over time. The morphology of hepatocytes was well maintained in both groups at 3 days. On day 7, the cytoplasm was transformed into a spindle shape. On day 10, these changes were exaggerated, and were more prominent in the high-glucose group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Morphological assessment indicated that low-glucose culture medium is better than high-glucose culture medium for culturing of hepatocytes, although there was not significantly different in functional assessment. The cultured hepatocytes with low-glucose culture medium could be maintained for 7 days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Gun Hyung
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Goo
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Sun
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Jung
keywords: Cell transplantation; Culture; Glucose; Hepatocytes; Rats
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