Stem cells instead of donor liver
Stem cell transplantation caused liver regeneration
Nadezhda Markina, Infox.ru
Cell therapy improved the condition of 48 patients with end-stage hepatitis and autoimmune liver damage. The medicine was the cells of their own bone marrow, multiplied and processed in culture.
The successful transplantation of bone marrow cells into the liver was carried out by specialists of the medical center at the University of California Davis Medical Center, located in Sacramento, in collaboration with Egyptian specialists. 48 patients suffered from severe liver damage, 36 of them experienced end–stage hepatitis, the other 12 - autoimmune liver disease. In Egypt, there was no possibility of a donor liver transplant for them.
CD34+ cells (hematopoietic stem cells) obtained from their own bone marrow were transplanted into the liver of patients. Before that, the cells were multiplied in culture and treated with specific substances – growth and differentiation factors. Already during cultivation, experts were convinced that the cells began to turn into precursors of liver cells – hepatocytes. At this stage, about a billion cells were transplanted to each patient.
The peripheral method was used for transplantation, that is, the cells were injected through the blood. This is a much simpler and cheaper method of introduction, available in any country. The study showed that this way is effective.
Already in the liver, the cells continued to develop into hepatocytes, and the organ began to regenerate. After some time, the condition of the patients improved significantly: "The amount of fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites) significantly decreased in all patients," says Dr. Mark A. Zern, head of the group. – There is also a clinical improvement in the condition and normalization of biochemical parameters."
Some researchers believe that the procedure of cell therapy can even be simplified: "It would be interesting to see whether it is necessary to cause the beginning of cell differentiation into hepatocytes before transplantation," says Dr. Stephen Strom, professor of the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh. – Our group obtained similar results with cells that had not acquired hepatocyte traits before transplantation. Perhaps the positive effect is caused by substances that are secreted by donor cells."
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14.01.2011