Application of bone marrow cells: a novel therapy for bile leak?

Bile leak is one of the most common complications after hepatobiliary surgery. The current treatments for biliary leak include a variety of biliary drainage, re-operation and so on. However, widespread use of these nonsurgical or surgical therapies is restricted because of their own defects, such as bringing pancreatitis, hemorrhage, foreign body reaction and biliary stenosis or even threatening the safety of human life. It is meaningful to exploit a new therapeutic method for biliary leakage. Bone marrow stem cells have high proliferative and self-renewal capability, which is critical for clinic application. The current study demonstrates that biliary epithelial cells can derive from bone marrow in vivo and in vitro. To transplant the autologous cholangiocytes into the site of bile leak can restore the succession of bile duct to seal the leakage, without any rejection and biliary stricture. Therefore, a hypothesis is put forward that application of bone marrow cells may be a novel therapy for bile leak.