Acute liver failure (ALF) still carries a high mortality. The incidence of ALF is approximately 2000 cases annually. Drug-related hepatotoxicity accounts for more than 50% of cases in US. Effective treatment strategies aimed at accelerating liver regeneration could offer major benefits in ALF. Recent reports have demonstrated the capacity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to specifically be involved in the repair of organ tissue. We investigated the effect of human adipose derive MSC (HAD-MSC) on liver regeneration, using a murine model of CCl(4)-induced acute liver failure.

Male WT (C57BL6) mice were subjected CCl(4)-induced acute iver failure (2-4 mg/kg ip). Animals were treated with intravenous HAD-MSC (1-2x 10⁶) or normal saline. Liver injury was evaluated using serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1, TNF-alpha and specific markers of regeneration (BrdU staining) and hematoxylin and eosin staining.

Histology, serum IL-6, IL-1, TNF-alpha and ALT release revealed that HAD-MSC treatment provided significant improvement compared with controls Improved animal survival and increased number of BrdU positive cells were observed in HAD-MSC groups treated animal.

These data indicate that HAD-MSC plays a key role in liver regeneration. HAD-MSC represents a potential strategy to promote liver regeneration in ALF.

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