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Efficacy of transplanted hepatocytes was evaluated in rats with a surgically induced acute hepatic failure. After 75% liver resection and portacaval shunt, the intrasplenic or intraperitoneal injection of 20 million isolated fresh hepatocytes was shown to significantly reduce the mortality rate. These results confirm that the transplantation of isolated hepatocytes may prevent death in rats with acute hepatic failure, and suggest that hepatocyte transplantation acts by a mechanism of hepatic support.

Our findings suggest that Farnesyltransferase activity may be a potential marker of tumourigenicity. The differences in Farnesyltransferase activity in relation to histological grading, tumour location and K-ras mutation described here may constitute a starting point for investigating the causes of this variation within the large bowel.

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