Fig. 4.

Pathway control of mitochondrial respiration after static cold storage, during normothermic machine perfusion, and upon reperfusion. Respiration in the OXPHOS state with saturating ADP concentrations (5 mM). Octanoylcarnitine (0.5 mM) and malate (0.1 mM) were added as substrates for the fatty acid oxidation (F)-linked pathway; pyruvate (5 mM), malate (2 mM) and glutamate (10 mM) as substrates for the NADH (N)-linked pathway or rotenone (0.5 μM) and succinate (10 mM) for the S-linked pathway in subsequently transplanted (a) and discarded livers (c). Relative contributions of the three substrate pathways, expressed as flux control ratios (FCR) in transplanted (b) and discarded livers (d). The FCR of the F-, N-, and S-linked pathways were calculated relative to the maximum OXPHOS capacity reached after addition of substrates of all three pathways. In the box plots, data are represented as median, interquartile range and min–max values while in (b) and (d) median and interquartile ranges are shown. No significant changes were found between the transplanted and discarded livers (p > 0.05). #p < 0.05 compared to pre values within groups (two-way ANOVA).