Drug-Induced Liver Injury and Individual Cell Models

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the most common cause of acute liver failure and accounts for the majority of regulatory actions on drugs. Furthermore, DILI is a relevant cause for project terminations in pharmaceutical development. The idiosyncratic form of DILI is especially a threat in late clinical development phases and postmarketing, respectively. Even the occurrence of only a few idiosyncratic DILI cases in late clinical development or postmarketing may suffice to terminate or withdraw an otherwise promising therapy. Despite advances in preclinical assessment of dose-dependent toxicity, idiosyncratic DILI is still a big challenge for in vitro research: it not only requires individualized models but also a huge number of tests. We have developed and investigated MetaHeps®, a technology involving hepatocyte-like cells generated from peripheral monocytes without genetic modifications. These cells exhibit several hepatocyte-like characteristics and show donor-specific activities of drug-metabolizing enzymes. With MetaHeps we have performed in vitro investigations in patients with DILI suspicion. By investigating MetaHeps derived from DILI patients we could show increased in vitro susceptibility to the drugs involved in the individual patients. MetaHeps testing could also rule out DILI and help to identify other causes of acute liver injury. Moreover, MetaHeps identified the causative agent in polymedicated patients. In conclusion, in vitro research of idiosyncratic DILI requires individual cell models which produce results comparable to the clinical situation. We suggest the MetaHeps technology as a novel tool to cope with these challenges of DILI.