Artificial Liver Shows Promise in Animal Study

The efficacy of a recently patented bio-artificial liver was demonstrated in a study conducted on a porcine model of fulminating hepatic failure.

Investigators at Innsbruck University Hospital (Austria) used their Innsbruck Bio-artificial Liver (IBAL, U.S. patent no. 7,067,307) to treat a group of pigs with liver failure that had been induced by a combination of 75–80% liver resection and ischemia of the remnant segments. The bio-artificial liver consisted of living porcine hepatocyte cells contained within a device, through which the animal's blood was circulated. A second control group of sick pigs was treated according to standard intensive care protocols.

Results published in the December 2006 issue of Artificial Organs revealed that IBAL treatment increased the survival rate of the pigs by more than 150% as compared to the control group. In addition, intracranial pressure, blood ammonia, lactate, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase levels were lower in the IBAL group than in controls.

"This is a cheaper, more accessible alternative to traditional liver transplantation,” said first author Dr. Boris Hochleitner, professor of medicine at Innsbruck University Hospital. "Currently, the best way to treat a failing liver is to replace it with a liver transplant, but donor organs are scarce and not all diseases allow transplantation.”




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Innsbruck University Hospital