Preparation of hollow fiber bioreactor for culturing pig hepatocytes / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the method of preparing the hollow fiber bioreactor for culturing pig hepatocytes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hepatocytes were isolated from experimental suckling minipigs by two-step perfusion with collagenase, and seeded onto hollow fiber bioreactor, then cultured with an artificial capillary cell culture system. The albumin-excretion, lidocaine-transforming rate, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and the cell viability in bioreactors were examined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The porcine albumin could be detected by SDS/PAGE on the 2nd, 4th, 6th day. The rates of lidocaine-transforming ranged from 89.6% to 96.1%. The release of LDH into the culture medium increased from (23.7+/-4.6) U/L to (127.8+/-17.4) U/L (F=39.582, P<0.01) during the experiments, and the viability of pig hepatocytes in hollow fiber bioreactor reduced from 95.8%+/-0.3% to 83.8%+/-4.7% (t=5.135, P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The hollow fiber bioreactor for culturing pig hepatocytes can be prepared by artificial capillary cell culture system, which provides a certain liver-specific function in 1 week.</p>

Preliminary evaluation on the effects of a hybrid bioartificial liver support system in the treatment of hepatic failure / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To construct a novel hybrid artificial liver support system and evaluate its clinical efficacy in the treatment of hepatic failure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A hybrid bioartificial liver support system consisting of plasma exchange device, charcoal perfusion column, and bioreactor cultured human or porcine hepatocytes was developed. 30 patients with hepatic failure were treated using this hybrid system.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Both the excellent rate and effectual rate of the artificial liver support system were 43.3% (13/30). The total effectual rate was 86.7%. Finally, eleven out of 30 patients recovered completely. Six patients were bridged to liver transplantation. Six patients (20%) died of hepatic failure and seven patients (23.3%) discharged due to worsening of disease.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The hybrid artificial liver support system has prominent liver support effects for hepatic failure, which can be regarded as an efficient measure for the treatment of severe hepatitis.</p>