Comparative evaluation of different membranes for the construction of an artificial liver support system

During the past decades, many technological improvements have been made in the construction of extracorporeal liver support systems. Among these achievements, membranes of artificial capillary system, used as substrates of hepatocyte growth, aroused our interest in their application for the construction of bioreactors. The present paper studied the comparison of hepatocyte growth and function on six different membranes. Four of them are cellulose based membranes, Cuprophan, Hemophan, Cellulose acetate, and Bioflux; two are synthetic polymer SPAN and Polysulphone. Human hepatoma cell line SMMC-7721, with moderately differentiated hepatocyte-specific functions, was inoculated into the hollow fiber cartridges. These cells were allowed to attach and to grow over these membranes. It was found that there existed differences in hepatocyte immobilization and growth among these membranes. They influenced the growth and functions of hepatoma cells in vitro to some extent. These results show that membrane is an important factor in the construction of capillary membrane bioreactors for artificial liver support.