Hepatotoxic Effects of Sera from Patients with Fulminant Hepatitis B on Isolated Rat Hepatocytes in Culture

Abstract

The hepatotoxicity of sera from patients with terminal fulminant hepatic failure has been investigated by cell culture techniques. It could be shown that both untreated and heat-treated sera are cytotoxic in nature. Compared with the action of sera from healthy individuals on liver cells in primary monolayer culture, the pathological sera exhibited significantly different behaviour with respect to morphological and biochemical parameters such as cell adhesion, growth and proliferation, and enzyme release. Hepatotoxische Wirkung von Seren von Patienten mit fulminanter Hepatitis B auf isolierte Hepatocyten in KulturZusammenfassung: Seren von Patienten mit akutem Leberversagen nach Hepatitis B wurden mit Hilfe von Zellkulturtechniken hinsichtlich ihrer Hepatotoxizität untersucht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß sowohl unbehandelte als auch hitze-behandelte Seren cytotoxisch wirken. Verglichen mit Normalseren beeinflussen pathologische Seren in erheblich stärkerem Maße das morphologische und biochemische Verhalten der Leberzellen in Kultur, wie Zell-Adhäsion, Wachstum und Zellteilung und Enzymaustritt.

Bioartificial Liver Treatment Prolongs Survival and Lowers Intracranial Pressure in Pigs with Fulminant Hepatic Failure

“…The importance of using viable functional liver cells in the extracorporeal liver assist devices might also be supported by the results of our recent study, in which intrasplenic transplantation of 10 billion cryopreserved hepatocytes in pigs with the same model of ischemic liver failure delayed the onset of intracranial hypertension, prolonged survival time, lowered blood ammonia and bilirubin levels, and improved blood coagulation (16). We also suggest that treatment in Group 2 pigs was less effective than in Group 2 animals because in the complete hybrid BAL system by placing the charcoal column before the hepatocyte module in the circuit, we protected the cryopreserved normal porcine hepatocytes from the possible toxic effects of hepatic failure plasma (25,26). This could have resulted in improved overall BAL performance.…”

Effects of plasma from patients with fulminant hepatic failure on function of primary rat hepatocytes in three‐dimensional culture

“…Plasma from patients with FHF is known to extensively interfere with cellular function. Haas et al (24) demonstrated that the DNA content of rat hepatocytes was decreased in 20% FHF serum. Shi et al (23) demonstrated that FHF serum inhibited the synthesis of protein, RNA, and DNA of Hep G2 cells.…”

The Effects of Serum from Patients with Acute Liver Failure on the Growth and Metabolism of Hep G2 Cells

“…Previous experimental studies (5,6,25) have demonstrated the inhibitory effects of FHF serum on growth and macromolecular synthesis in hepatocytes. Hughes and coworkers investigated the cytotoxicity of plasma from patients with various types of liver diseases using a microtoxicity assay system.…”

“…In addition, Haas et al. demonstrated that the DNA content of rat hepatocytes was decreased in 20% FHF serum ( 25). By using rapidly growing Hep G2 cells for our experiments, we have increased the sensitivity for detecting this type of interaction with liver cells compared with the experiments previously conducted in nonproliferating primary cultures of hepatocytes.…”