Artificial liver: A forthcoming attraction

✍ Scribed by Norman L. Sussman; James H. Kelly

• Book ID: 102238557
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 274 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840170632

✦ Synopsis

W e have developed a novel hepatocyte loaded hollow fiber bioreactor as a potential bioartificial liver. Freshly harvested rat hepatocytes were entrapped in a three-dimensional gel matrix within hollow fibers in a perfused bioreactor. Gel entrapment allowed cells to be cultured at high density while maintaining tissuespecific function. Hepatocyte function was evaluated in 10 bioreactors, each containing approximately 5 X lo7 cells. Oxygen consumption averaged 0.32 pmolelcellhr, albumin appearance averaged 0.60 pg/cellhr, and lidocaine clearance (a measure of the P-450 activity) averaged 0.74 pg/cell/hr. Function persisted for the 7 days of the study. Electron microscopy at 7 days showed the distinctive ultrastructure of viable, differentiated hepatocytes: bile canaliculi, intercellular junctions, peroxisomes, abundant mitochondria, and glycogen granules. Maintenance of tissue specific function and ultrastructure suggests that this bioreactor configuration has potential as a device to support patients in liver failure, as well as to study hepatocytes in uitro.

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