It supports healing and regeneration of the injured liver, and improve outcomes and reduce mortality rates for patients with acute liver failure. ~30,000-40,000 people die from liver disease each year, according to the American Liver Foundation. For acute liver failure, the only proven treatment has been liver transplantation. Developed by Scott Nyberg, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator in the Artificial Liver and Liver Transplantation Lab at Mayo Clinic and liver transplant surgeon, the device uses healthy hepatocytes, from pigs to do the job of a normal, healthy liver, which aids in digestion and the removal of waste and toxins from the bloodstream.
Treatment with the Spheroid Reservoir Bioartificial Liver (SRBAL) has been shown to reduce the severity of liver disease and improve survival in pigs. “Acute liver failure claims the lives of over 30% of people who are diagnosed with this condition.” Pigs with drug-induced acute liver failure were treated using Spheroid Reservoir Bioartificial Liver and were injected with healthy donor hepatocytes to determine if this treatment method could reverse the severity of their disease.
>>”This study demonstrated that animals treated using the bioartificial liver responded to the healthy hepatocytes and reached the study endpoint with less disease severity than animals that received other forms of treatment,” said Dr. Nyberg. “Although the artificial liver is not yet cleared for use on humans, these findings show promise as an effective treatment option for diseases like liver cancer and hepatitis, which is becoming an increasingly common diagnosis.”
There are >100 different types of liver disease that can compromise liver function and lead to chronic and life-threatening conditions such as hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and liver cancer. http://www.newswise.com/articles/researchers-test-bioartificial-liver-device-to-treat-acute-liver-failure
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