Progress in mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy for acute liver failure

• Published in: Stem cell research & therapy Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 227
• Main Authors: Wang, Yong-Hong, Wu, Dong-Bo, Chen, Bing, Chen, En-Qiang, Tang, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 24.08.2018; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Acute liver failure; Animals; Blood diseases; Bone marrow; Care and treatment; Cell Differentiation; Clinical Trials as Topic; Culture Media, Conditioned - pharmacology; Cytokines; Cytokines - genetics; Cytokines - metabolism; Drug overdose; Epidermal growth factor; Hepatocytes; Hepatocytes - cytology; Hepatocytes - metabolism; Humans; Liver - metabolism; Liver - pathology; Liver diseases; Liver failure; Liver Failure, Acute - metabolism; Liver Failure, Acute - pathology; Liver Failure, Acute - therapy; Liver Regeneration - physiology; Liver transplantation; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Mesenchymal stem cells; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - cytology; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - metabolism; Mesenchyme; Mortality; Review; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Transplantation; Transplants & implants; Treatment; Umbilical cord; Acute liver failure; Treatment; Mesenchymal stem cells
• ISSN: 1757-6512; 1757-6512
• DOI: 10.1186/s13287-018-0972-4

Acute liver failure is a life-threatening clinical syndrome characterized by rapid development of hepatocellular necrosis leading to high mortality and resource costs. Numerous treatment strategies for acute liver failure simply prevent complications and decelerate disease progression. The only curative treatment for acute liver failure is liver transplantation, but there are many restrictions on the application of liver transplantation. In recent years, a growing number of studies have shown that stem cells can effectively treat acute liver failure. Several types of stem cells have been used to study liver diseases; mesenchymal stem cells are most commonly used because they are easy to obtain and present no ethical problems. The aims of this article are to review the current knowledge regarding therapeutic mechanisms of mesenchymal stem cells in acute liver failure, to discuss recent advancements in preclinical and clinical studies in the treatment of mesenchymal stem cells, and to summarize the methodological improvement of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in treating liver failure.