Comparative Anatomical Study Between the Human and Swine Liver and Its Importance in Xenotransplantation.

Athanasios Ntonas,George Noussios,Eva Filo,Nikiforos Galanis,Anastasios Katsourakis

doi:10.7759/cureus.9411

Abstract

The liver is a multifunctional organ; due to its functional and structural complexity, there are many factors that may lead it to function inadequately, a state called liver failure. Transplantation is the only appropriate therapy for patients in cases of liver failure. However, there are many limitations to this treatment, and the scientific community has considered methods based on pigs because of their unique structural and cellular compatibility with humans. In this review, we conducted an anatomic comparative study of the liver’s parenchyma and vascular network between humans and pigs to extract useful information for xenotransplantation and autologous cell or organ generation in pigs. We reviewed articles from 2007 to 2019 and used the databases of Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar. We concluded that, despite the difference concerning the shape of the human and pig livers, the number of segments and the bile and vascular system are similar, making the pig liver useful in experimental surgery for xenotransplantation.

Highlights

IntroductionThe organ’s parenchymal cells synthesize most of the factors and inhibitors of the clotting and fibrinolytic systems [1]
BackgroundThe liver’s functions are complex and fundamental for life
There are many limitations to this treatment, and the scientific community has considered methods based on pigs because of their unique structural and cellular compatibility with humans

Summary

Introduction

The organ’s parenchymal cells synthesize most of the factors and inhibitors of the clotting and fibrinolytic systems [1] This organ plays a major role in metabolism [2]. Liver transplantation is the only appropriate therapy for patients with end-stage organ disease [5]. Due to their limitations, the scientific community considered using methods like xenotransplantation from animals that had been genetically engineered to be less immunogenic [6,7], differentiation of autologous stem cells into hepatocyte-like cells [8], and the autologous organ generation in xenogeneic animals [9]. Inspired by the comparative study between rodent and human livers by Kruepunga et al in 2019 [11], the purpose of this review is to compare anatomical elements of the liver in between the human and porcine cases to enhance the current knowledge based on the recent literature

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion