• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1060-1065
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• 2006

Non-invasive evaluation of liver function in animal models remains a challenge. Hepatoscintigraphy provides information about changes in liver size and shape, and enables to understand general liver function. Futhermore it is readily used to diagnosis complications of liver transplantation like hepatitis, rejections and biliary complications. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of evaluating the liver function in miniature pigs with $^{99m}Tc-Tin$ colloid and $^{99m}Tc-DISIDA$ which are the most commonly used radiopharmaceuticals in human medicine. In result, $^{99m}Tc-Tin$ colloid was uptaked in lung, liver, gastric wall and kidney in miniature pigs. And $^{99m}Tc-DISIDA$ showed continuous uptake images of heart, lung, liver, gallbladder and duodenum, and it was similar to human's. Therefore we could conclude $^{99m}Tc-Tin$ colloid would not be suitable for evaluating hepatic function because of it's nonspecific affinity, however $^{99m}Tc-DISIDA$ scintigraphy would be an effective method for detecting hepatobiliary function in miniature pigs.