In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers in China have successfully revived brain activity in pigs nearly an hour after their circulation had ceased. The remarkable experiment, which sustained brain function for several hours in some cases, could pave the way for new treatments to restore brain function in patients following sudden cardiac arrest.

The key to this achievement? Integrating the patient’s healthy liver—an organ responsible for purifying blood—into the life support system is designed to restart brain activity after circulation has stopped.

A new method

Sudden cardiac arrest typically leads to ischemia—a rapid cessation of blood flow that can cause irreversible brain damage within minutes. This is why the window for successful resuscitation is so brief. However, the latest findings suggest that incorporating the liver into life support systems could extend that critical period, offering new hope for improving patient outcomes. Led by Dr. Xiaoshun He from Sun Yat-Sen University, the research team experimented with Tibetan minipigs to explore the liver’s role in brain recovery after ischemia. Using a total of 17 pigs, the researchers compared the effects of brain ischemia alone with brain ischemia combined with liver ischemia.

Key Findings: The liver’s role in brain resuscitation

The study revealed that pigs who were spared liver ischemia had significantly less brain damage compared to those subjected to both brain and liver ischemia. This suggested that the liver plays a crucial role in minimizing brain injury after cardiac arrest. Taking the research a step further, the team experimented with incorporating a healthy liver into a life support system to revive brain activity. The system called liver-assisted brain normothermic machine perfusion, combined artificial heart and lung functions with a pig’s liver to pump fluid through the brain.

Results show a promising resuscitation timeframe

In one part of the experiment, brains were connected to the life support system 10 minutes after circulation stopped. When the liver was included, electrical activity in the brain returned within 30 minutes and was sustained for six hours. The team also tested longer intervals, finding that even brains deprived of oxygen for 50 minutes showed significant electrical activity for several hours. However, brains deprived of oxygen for 60 minutes only showed activity for three hours before it faded, indicating a critical resuscitation window.

Implications for human health

These findings highlight the liver’s potential role in preventing brain injury after cardiac arrest and could lead to new treatments for improving survival rates in humans. The researchers hope that this approach may one day help extend the timeframe for reviving brain function in cardiac arrest patients, potentially reducing long-term brain damage and improving recovery outcomes.