Chongqing Key Laboratory of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China.
Front Med. 2011 Mar;5(1):26-32. doi: 10.1007/s11684-011-0107-0. Epub 2011 Mar 17.
Liver transplantation is the only life-saving procedure for patients with end-stage liver disease. However, its potential benefits are hampered by many disadvantages, such as the relative shortage of donors, operative risks, and high costs. These issues have prompted the search for new alternative therapies for irreversible liver disease. Stem cell therapy, with the ability for self-renewal and potential for multilineage differentiation, is a promising alternative approach. Several studies have demonstrated that transplantation of hepatic stem/progenitor cells or hepatocyte-like cells derived from multipotent stem cells leads to donor cell-mediated repopulation of the liver and improved survival rates in experimental models of liver disease. However, a registered clinical application based on stem cell technology will take at least an additional 5 to 10 years because of some limitations; e.g. the lack of suitable cell sources and risk of teratoma formation. This review summarizes the general understanding of the therapeutic potentials of stem cells in liver disease, including the sources, mechanisms, and delivery methods of hepatic stem cells in liver regeneration, and discusses some challenges for their therapeutic application.
肝移植是治疗终末期肝病患者的唯一救生程序。然而，由于供体相对短缺、手术风险和高成本等诸多不利因素，其潜在益处受到了限制。这些问题促使人们寻找新的替代疗法来治疗不可逆转的肝脏疾病。干细胞治疗具有自我更新和多能分化的潜力，是一种很有前途的替代方法。多项研究表明，移植肝干细胞/祖细胞或多能干细胞衍生的肝样细胞可导致供体细胞介导的肝脏再定植，并提高肝脏疾病实验模型中的存活率。然而，由于一些限制因素，如缺乏合适的细胞来源和畸胎瘤形成的风险，基于干细胞技术的注册临床应用至少还需要 5 到 10 年的时间。本综述总结了干细胞在肝脏疾病中的治疗潜力的一般认识，包括肝再生中肝干细胞的来源、机制和传递方法，并讨论了其治疗应用的一些挑战。
