Cell Transplantation in the Treatment of Acute Liver Injury: Effect But No Clear Mechanism

Abstract

Liver transplantation is the current treatment of choice for end-stage liver disease. Nevertheless, cell-based therapy is emerging as an alternative to whole-organ transplantation. It is less invasive and can be performed repeatedly. Hepatocyte transplantation has been used to bridge patients to whole-organ transplantation, which has been done using bioartificial liver techniques such as extracorporeal liver assist device (ELAD), molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS), and plasmapheresis. However, these methods are not achieving the desirable goal of effectively reducing mortality in acute liver failure[ 1 O'Grady J. Modern management of acute liver failure. Clin Liver Dis. 2007; 11: 291 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar ]. An alternative to the primary hepatocyte is stem cell derivative or hepatocyte precursors, which are available within each patient. Research into the ability of these cells to replace hepatocytes and their function is ongoing [ 2 Nussler A. Konig S. Ott M. et al. Present status and perspectives of cell-based therapies for liver diseases. J Hepatol. 2006; 45: 144 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (162) Google Scholar ].