title: ALEX (artificial liver for extracorporeal xenoassistance): a new bioreactor containing a porcine autologous biomatrix as hepatocyte support. Preliminary results in an ex vivo experimental model.
abstract: Long-term maintenance of viability and expression of differentiated hepatocyte function is crucial for bioartificial liver support. We developed a new bioreactor design (ALEX), associated with a new extracellular autologous hepatocyte biomatrix (Porcine Autologous Biomatrix - PBM) support. To test this new bioreactor, we compared it to a standard BAL (BioArtificial Liver) cartridge in a ex vivo model using human plasma added to bilirubin, ammonium and lidocaine. A pathology study was performed on both bioreactors. The results suggest that ALEX allows a maximal contact between the perfusing plasma and the liver cells and a proper hepatocyte support by a cell-to-matrix attachment. ALEX is a suitable cell support bioreactor, guaranteeing long-term maintenance of the metabolic activity of hepatocytes when compared to a standard BAL cartridge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical and Gastroenterological Sciences, Section of General and Liver Transplant Surgery, University of Padova School of Medicine, Padova, Italy. giovanni.ambrosino@unipd.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ambrosino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varotto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galavotti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cecchetto
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carraro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Silvestro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plebani
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giron
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abatangelo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Donato
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cestrone
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marrelli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trombetta
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lorenzelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Picardi
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colantoni
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Thiel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ricordi
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: D'Amico
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D019149:Bioreactors; D005112:Extracorporeal Circulation; D022781:Hepatocytes; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000097:blood; D019164:Liver, Artificial; D011517:Prothrombin Time; D013552:Swine; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia; D008012:Lidocaine; D001663:Bilirubin