[Establishment and significance of an extracorporeal bioartificial liver support system]

This experiment was carried out to establish an optimal extracorporeal bioartificial liver support system (EBLSS) and furnish a new therapy for hepatic failure. For this purpose, human hepatocytes were isolated by two-stage perfusion method and cultured by spheroidal aggregates method. Besides, hollow fiber tube was used as bioreactor and the hemodialysis instrument was refited to serve as supplementary circulation unit, which was composed of EBLSS and was tried in normal dogs. A total of 2 x 10(10) human hepatocytes with a viability of 94% was obtained. These hepatocytes became multicellular spheroidal aggregates under non-adherent conditions. After 5 hours circulating on EBLSS, the hepatocytes remained active. At the same time, the monitoring system revealed a normal vital sign in dogs and the laboratory tests found their serum total protein and albumin were increased. These results show that the key technology of bioartificial liver has been dereloped basically and this EBLSS is effective and safe, providing a foundation for the support and treatment of hepatic failure with bioartificial liver.