Advances in Bioartificial Liver System
Wu Zhitao1, Peng Qing2, Gao Yi2*, Pan Guoyu1*
Liver failure is a complex and progressive syndrome with high mortality. Liver transplantation is the final option. Artificial liver support devices are one of the solutions to treat liver failure, which include nonbiological artificial liver devices and bioartificial liver devices. Bioartificial liver devices containing functional hepatocytes provide the supportive functions close to liver, including detoxification, synthetic functions and biotransformation activities. High-quality hepatocytes and optimized bioreactors are critical to develop an effective bioartificial liver device. The efficacy of bioartificial liver with good functional cells has been confirmed in preclinical studies, while clinical trials are conducted by different groups. This paper reviewed the status in quo of bioartificial liver devices by focusing on the source of functional cells, the types of bioreactor, and the ongoing clinical researches.
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