Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 10
Regenerative Therapies for Liver Diseases
Amar Deep Sharma, Ina Rittelmeyer, Tobias Cantz
and Michael Ott
Abstract The liver responds to injury or tissue loss by rapid restoration of the
original cell mass. The high regenerative capacity is sufficient to restore normal
volume and function in most forms of acute liver injury and medical interventions
are not required. For the development of regenerative therapies a fundamental
understanding of these regenerative principles in the liver is required. In this
chapter, we discuss the emerging medical approaches for acute liver failure,
chronic liver failure, and hereditary liver diseases, which are based on technolo-
gies, such as (stem) cell therapy, tissue engineering, bio-artificial devices or gene
therapies.
10.1 Principles of Liver Regeneration
The liver comprises about one-fiftieth of the total adult body weight [
1
], receives
approximately 25 % of cardiac output [
2
] and consists of an exceptional
anatomical structure in both biliary system and vasculature. The biliary system,
