New Perspectives in Liver Transplantation: From Regeneration to Bioengineering

Abstract

Advanced liver diseases have very high morbidity and mortality due to associated complications, and liver transplantation represents the only current therapeutic option. However, due to worldwide donor shortages, new alternative approaches are mandatory for such patients. Regenerative medicine could be the more appropriate answer to this need. Advances in knowledge of physiology of liver regeneration, stem cells, and 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering have accelerated the race towards efficient therapies for liver failure. In this review, we propose an update on liver regeneration, cell-based regenerative medicine and bioengineering alternatives to liver transplantation.

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“…Oval cells are the primordial cells of the liver, which can differentiate into hepatocytes or cholangiocytes. They are activated in the presence of chronic liver injury, and are related to a worse prognosis when HCC is derived from this strain compared to HCC derived from hepatocyte (7,13). The mechanism by which the disease develops in these animals involves an increase in oxidative damage (due to the increased metabolism of a diet enriched with fat) in association with a carcinogen with a known mechanism of action (7).…”

Older Age in Croatian Clinical Practice is not Discriminative Factor for Liver Transplantation

“…Liver transplantation is a method which is used increasingly often and with more success in the treatment of patients with end-stage irrevers- (14). Iako je broj transplantacija u stalnom porastu, i dalje je puno veći broj bolesnika kojima je potrebna transplantacija od broja učinjenih (15).…”

“…Kao zaključak može se reći da životna dob bolesnika nije kontraindikacija za transplantacij-ible liver failure (14). Although the number of liver transplantations is steadily rising, the number of patients that are candidates for this type of treatment still exceeds the number of transplantations (15).…”

Mechanisms Underlying Cell Therapy in Liver Fibrosis: An Overview

“…Currently, molecular mechanisms and cell pathways involved in the exhaustion of liver regenerative potential are well known, and factors such as the chronicity of the insulting agent are key elements in this cycle of tissue inflammation and burnout. As an extremely complex organ, it is assumable that different cell processes interact in a specific time and sites in the liver to trigger the alterations that lead to tissue fibrosis, metabolic imbalance, loss of hepatic function, and increased tumorigenic potential [1,2].…”