Does a porcine hepatocyte hybrid artificial liver prolong the survival time of anhepatic rabbits?
To examine cultured porcine hepatocytes as a bioreactor of a hybrid artificial liver (HAL) in rabbits, a small version of a multiplated HAL was manufactured. In vitro and ex vivo studies were performed to evaluate the small HAL. The HAL consisted of 50 glass plates (10 x 5 x 0.04 cm each) on which porcine hepatocytes were cultured in a monolayer at confluent cell density. After 2 days of standard cultivation, the glass plates with hepatocytes were placed in the module and were used for studies. The module contains about 5 grams of hepatocytes (1/10 of 2 kg.bw rabbit liver). After undergoing perfusion culture for 5 days, the HAL showed satisfactory hepatic function. Glucose and urea were synthesized at the rate of 4.06 +/- 0.7 mg/module/hr and 0.62 +/- 0.09 mg/module/hr, respectively, and loaded ammonia was metabolized at the rate of 1.29 +/- 0.26 mg/module/hr. Ex vivo extracorporeal plasma perfusion studies revealed that the module with cultured porcine hepatocytes, which were heterogeneous to rabbits, showed a tendency to prolong the survival time of anhepatic rabbits. These results indicate that the HAL system, using multiplated porcine hepatocyte monolayers, is a promising artificial liver support system for clinical cases.
Takahashi
M
M
First Department of Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Matsue
H
H
Matsushita
M
M
Sato
K
K
Nishikawa
M
M
Koike
M
M
Noto
H
H
Nakajima
Y
Y
Uchino
J
J
Komai
T
T
D000818:Animals; D001187:Artificial Organs; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005943:Gluconeogenesis; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D013552:Swine; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous