[Animal models of fulminant hepatic failure]

Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is a very serious clinical sindrome that, in spite of the important therapeutical advances that have taken place in the last years by means of bioartifical hepatic support devices and hepatic transplantation, is still associated to a high mortality. Knowledge and treatment of the FHF have been limited by the lack of satisfactory animal models. Among the attempts to develop a suitable model are surgical models, such as hepatectomy and total and/or partial devascularization, or the use of chemical substances with hepatic toxicity, such as acetaminophen, azoximethane, galactosamine or thioacetamide, among others. However, most of these models do not adequatly reflect the pattern of the human disease and all of them present important limitations. Although viral hepatitis is one of the most frequent causes of FHF, the use of viral agents to develop animal models has been little and unfortunate. Our group has recently developed a viral animal model of FHF by means of the inoculation of rabbits with the virus of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease. This model displays biochemical, and histological characteristics, and clinical signs that ressemble those in human FHF. In the present article, the most widely used animal models of FHF, together with their main advantages and disadvantages, are presented.