Xenotransplantation of hamster liver into Gunn rats reserves congenital hyperbilirubinemia.

THE Gunn rat is an animal model for Crigler-Najar syndrome. a rare form of congenital unconjugated nonhemolytic hyperbilirubinemia due to the absence of glucoronyl transferase. I.e It leads to deposition of bilirubin in the basal ganglia. culminating in precocious death of the patient. Because the uptake. conjugation. and excretion of bilirubin by hepatocytes involves specific carriers and enzymes. this animal model provides a unique opportunity to investigate the interactions between proteins of donor origin with those of the recipient:' In this study we have assessed whether liver xenotransplantation can reverse the congenital hyperbilirubinemia in the Gunn rat.