Affiliation
- Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Cytopeutics, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia
- Cryocord, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia
- Tunku Abdul Rahman University, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
Background
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) may attenuate inflammation and T-cell mediated injury, MSC has also been proven to differentiate into functioning hepatocytes. These properties may be useful for the palliative treatment of patients with end-stage liver failure and cirrhosis.
Methods
Five consecutive patients (4 men; mean age 59 years) with the condition were recruited from a medical clinic. Two patients presented with decompensated liver encephalopathy. The aetiologies were viral hepatitis (n=3), alcohol-induced (n=1), and autoimmune idiopathic (n=1). Liver cirrhosis was confirmed by abdominal ultrasound. Three patients had portal hypertension with splenomegaly. All received umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) via intravenous infusion. Blood samples were taken at baseline, 6 weeks and 3 months after cell treatment and sent for haematology, liver function test and prothrombin time.
Results
All patients tolerated the procedure well. There was generally improvement in all blood parameters at 6 weeks, sustained at 3 months. Specifically, two patients with anaemia and thrombocytopenia, presumably due to splenomegaly, demonstrated significant improvement. Hepatitis viral load by PCR also improved significantly in two out of three patients.
Conclusion
MSC infusion improves liver function tests in patients with hepatitis and may potentially play a role in management of end-stage liver failure and cirrhosis. The association between MSC infusion and viral load reduction warrants further investigation.