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Autologous bone marrow cell infusion therapy for liver cirrhosis
Author(s) -
Sakaida Isao
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2008.05381.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cirrhosis , carbon tetrachloride , bone marrow , albumin , liver function , fibrosis , liver disease , in vivo , pathology , gastroenterology , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry , biology
The plasticity of bone marrow cells (BMC) has been confirmed by autopsy results of female recipients of BMC from male donors. To establish new clinical therapies for patients with liver cirrhosis using autologous BMC, we developed a new in vivo murine model using green fluorescent protein (GFP) and repeated carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) injection. We found that BMC infused through the tail vein, efficiently repopulated cirrhotic liver tissue and, under the influence of persistent liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride, differentiated into albumin‐producing hepatocytes. Moreover, such BMC infusions into mice with cirrhosis improved liver function and reduced mortality. The latter observation correlated with the strong expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), particularly MMP‐9, and reduced hepatic fibrosis. The results from the ‘GFP/CCl 4 model’ showed that cell therapy using autologous BMC has the potential to become an effective treatment for patients with liver failure due to advanced liver cirrhosis. This review summarizes previous findings plus these recent experimental results, as well as recent clinical trials of BMC transfusion into patients with end‐stage chronic liver disease.