Researchers resurrected a pig’s brain. They discovered a secret of the liver

Researchers from China have performed quite an extraordinary feat. They managed to reactivate the pig’s brain an hour after circulation stopped. According to research published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, in some cases this functionality was maintained for many hours. All because of the researchers’ extraordinary discovery. As a result, the time needed to effectively resuscitate a patient after cardiac arrest may be extended.

The liver and the brain

When blood suddenly stops in the human body, a race against time begins. Cerebral ischemia can cause enormous damage to the human body even within a few minutes. For this reason, Chinese scientists have been looking for methods to reduce brain injuries. They used pigs for this purpose, in which the team compared the inclusion of the liver to the loss of circulation. In one set of experiments, two groups of pigs were subjected to cerebral ischemia for 30 minutes; one of the groups also underwent hepatic ischemia and the other did not. However, the control group was not subjected to ischemia at all – describes sciencealert.com.

After examining the brains, it turned out that the second group had less damage to this organ. However, the experiences did not stop there. Scientists decided to include the intact liver in the life support system and revive the brain removed from a completely euthanized pig. Although it sounds quite repulsive, this analysis can help us find the right moments and circumstances for resuscitation.

The team decided to check how the brains would react after being connected to a life support system supported by the liver after various intervals after cutting off the blood supply. In the 50-minute trial, the pig’s brain resumed electrical activity and remained so for six hours until the experiment was turned off. Based on this, Chinese researchers claim that the liver plays an important role in the development of brain damage after cardiac arrest. This, in turn, is a pretext for new research on this unusual organ and its injuries, which may ultimately help many patients who, so far, have only been able to benefit from partial recovery at best.