Potential Therapeutic Application of Intravenous Autologous Bone Marrow Infusion in Patients with Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the application and efficacy of autologous bone marrow infusion (ABMi) for improvement of liver function in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC). Five subjects and 5 control patients with ALC who had abstained from alcohol intake for 24 weeks before the study were enrolled. Autologous bone marrow cells were washed and injected intravenously, and the changes in serum liver function parameters, and the level of the type IV collagen 7S domain as a marker of fibrosis, were monitored for 24 weeks. The distribution of activated bone marrow was assessed by indium-111-chloride bone marrow scintigraphy. The number of cells infused was 8.0±7.3×10(9) (mean±standard error). The serum levels of albumin and total protein and the prothrombin time were significantly higher during the follow-up period after ABMi than during the observation period in treated patients, whereas no such changes were observed in the controls. In the patients who received ABMi, the Child-Pugh score decreased in all 3 who were classified as class B; the serum levels of type IV collagen 7S domain improved in 4 of the 5 patients; and bone marrow scintigraphy demonstrated an increase of indium-111-chloride uptake in 3 of the 4 patients tested. ABMi for patients with ALC helps improve liver function parameters in comparison with observation during abstinence and ameliorates the degree of fibrosis in terms of serum markers and bone marrow activation in most cases.

Epiregulin promotes the emergence and proliferation of adult liver progenitor cells

“…Recently, autologous BMC transplantation (a technique known as autologous BMC infusion therapy) has been applied for patients with liver cirrhosis and is reported to improve the serum levels of albumin and total protein, leading to an improvement of the Child-Pugh score (22). We have also applied this autologous BMC infusion therapy for patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, resulting in successful improvement of liver function (18).…”

A clinical study of bone mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis induced by hepatolenticular degeneration

“…Studies have shown that six-months after an intravenous injection of cultured BMSCs, patients' liver function indexes, pathological results of hepatic tissue and color Doppler ultrasound were improved, indicating the safety and effectiveness of BMSCs for treating cirrhosis (Mohamadnejad et al, 2007). Several additional reports have shown successful BMSC treatment of patients with hepatic fibrosis (Terai et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2010;Amer et al, 2011;Saito et al, 2011).…”

Therapeutic Strategies of Stem Cell Transplantation for Liver Cirrhosis

“…While there is no initial evidence of impaired immune response during the early stages of alcoholic liver cirrhosis [6], the immune response may be reduced later as the disease progresses, especially in the advanced stages of liver failure [7]. As a result of this disease profile, HSCs are eliminated by the active immune cells during the treatment of early-stage alcoholic liver cirrhosis, and accompanied by exacerbating the progression of hepatic fibrosis [8]. A previous study shows that two among eight patients receiving HSCs for the treatment of alcoholic liver cirrhosis, there was one case of diabetes (an autoimmune disease) with graft-versus-host disease, and another patient developed deterioration of liver function with the hemorrhage of the upper digestive tract [9].…”