Liver transplantation is considered as the most effective treatment for end-stage liver disease. However, serious complications still exist, particularly in two aspects: ischemia and subsequent reperfusion of the liver, causing postoperative hepatic dysfunction and even failure; and acute and chronic graft rejections, affecting the allograft survival. Heme oxygenase (HO), a stress-response protein, is believed to exert a protective function on both the development of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and graft rejection. In this review of current researches on allograft protection, we focused on the HO-1. We conjecture that HO-1 may link these two main factors affecting the prognosis of liver transplantations. In this review, the following aspects were emphasized: the basic biological functions of HO-1, its roles in IRI and allograft rejection, as well as methods to induce HO-1 and the prospects of a therapeutic application of HO-1 in liver transplantation.
Keywords: Allograft rejection; Heme oxygenase-1; Ischemia/reperfusion injury; Liver transplantation.