Novel Cell-Based Therapies in Hepatic Disorders

In the recent decade, liver diseases with high mortality rate have became one of the major health problems worldwide. Liver transplantation is the most effective and the standard treatment for decompensated liver disease, but, shortage of available organs and inaccuracy in modeling of the liver diseases are the most limiting issues in treatment. Regenerative medicine and cell based therapy strategies have provided promising results through cooperating in natural liver regeneration ability or providing liver function support as a bridge before transplantation. Induction of differentiation in different types of stem cells such as embryonic, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells are the most common methods that provide a functional population of hepatocytes to be used in diseases like cirrhosis, cancer and all types of fatty liver diseases, and significantly restore the normal levels of hepatic factors. In addition, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells improve the symptoms of autoimmune diseases by modulatation of immune responces and reduction of inflammation. Other cell treatment strategies are isolating the patient's own hepatocytes in the lab, in vito correction of defected genes and transplanting them back to the patient that can improve the symptoms of genetic disorders. In this study, we first reviewed the basic concepts related to liver diseases, then highlighted the most recent advances in cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine for the treatment of liver disease, along with tissue engineering and bio-artificial liver devices.