CORRECTION OF ACUTE HEPATIC-FAILURE BY HEPATOCYTES CULTURED ON MICROCARRIERS

Acute hepatic failure (AHF) is a serious clinical syndrome caused by extensive necrosis of the hepatic parenchyma. A disturbance of metabolism of the liver, connected with functional insufficiency of the hepatocytes, leads to the accumulation of toxins in the blood, disturbance of the balance between synthesis and degradation of plasma proteins, and changes in the hormonal status of the organism [1]. Existing methods of correction of AHF are aimed at removing accumulated toxins from the blood. Methods of exchange blood or plasma transfusion, hemoperfusion, and plasmapheresis are used for this purpose. However, despite these approaches to the treatment of severe forms of AHF, mortality in this group of patients remains high at about 70-80% [10]. The ineffectiveness of these methods of treatment, according to several authorities, is due to removal of biologically active substances and regeneration factors or their adsorption from the blood [8]. From this aspect, the use of biological adsorbents based on cultured hepatocytes for extracoporeal methods of treatment of AHF ought not only to lead to the effective removal of toxins, but also to accelerate the processes of regeneration. This paper gives the results of a comparative study of the metabolic properties of hepatocytes cultured in Petri dishes and on microcarriers, and also the results of the use of a biological sorbent based on these cells as artificial liver support system (ALSS) for rats with AHF.