Development of a hybrid artificial liver using a polyurethane foam/hepatocyte-spheroid packed-bed module.
Primary dog hepatocytes spontaneously formed spheroids in the pores of polyurethane foam (PUF) within 1-2 days of stationary culture. The spheroids, about 100-150 microm in diameter, partly attached to the surface and immobilized inside these pores. The lidocaine disappearance rate decreased to about 4 microg/10(5) viable cells/day for 10 days, while in the PUF/spheroid culture the rate was maintained at almost the initial level of 8 microg/10(5) viable cells/day for 10 days. Then, two scales of PUF packed-bed modules were designed. A small module (PUF volume; 14.5 cm3) was used for in vitro culture to investigate optimum culture conditions, and a large module (PUF volume; 300 cm3) was designed for dog experiments. Hepatocytes inoculated in these modules also formed spheroids and maintained almost the same activity of albumin secretion rate (111 microg/cm3 PUF/day in the small module and 87.7 microg/cm3 PUF/day in the large module). These results indicate that the PUF packed-bed module containing hepatocyte-spheroids is promising as a hybrid artificial liver.
Ijima
H
H
Department of Chemical Systems and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University Fukuoka, Japan.
Nakazawa
K
K
Koyama
S
S
Kaneko
M
M
Matsushita
T
T
Gion
T
T
Shirabe
K
K
Shimada
M
M
Takenaka
K
K
Sugimachi
K
K
Funatsu
K
K
D000418:Albumins / Q000378:metabolism; D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004285:Dogs; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000378:metabolism; D019164:Liver, Artificial; D008297:Male; D011140:Polyurethanes
D000418:Albumins; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D011140:Polyurethanes; D000641:Ammonia; D008012:Lidocaine