Cell Therapy for Acute Liver Failure - Ideal source of cell

Abstract

Liver is the central metabolic organ that regulates body’s energy supply, secretes several essential compounds and clears substances by several methods, including recycling, inactivation andexcretion. Global loss of the liver function results in profound metabolic instability and disruption of essential functions such as acid-base balance and thermoregulation leading to acute liver failure (ALF). If this is not rapidly reversed, complications such as uncontrolled bleeding occur, and dependent organs such as brain and kidneys begin to fail, reducing the chance of recovery even further. Acute liver failure (ALF) carries high morbidity and mortality (>80%) even in the best centres. Presently, orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) is the only treatment that improves the survival rate in patients with ALF. Advent of various immunosuppressive agents has improved the success rate of this procedure by preventing rejection. Non availability of donor organs however remained a major limitation. Two approaches viz., (i) hepatocyte transplantation (ii) extracorporeal liver support system, have been attempted to provide temporary liver support to failing liver till a suitable organ becomes available. These approaches have demonstrated their efficacy in the pre-clinical and clinical studies.