ESAO - Liver Support Working Group

MIT Technology: Mayo Clinic is making advances toward longer-lasting liver "dialysis" using pig cells

The MIT Technology Review has an article about ongoing progress at the Mayo Clinic to develop a liver support device based on clusters of porcine hepatocytes. The Mayo machine is loaded with 200 grams of freshly isolated pig hepatocytes, which is about 20% of liver mass of normal human liver. The research is being conducted by a group of associates led by Scott L. Nyberg M.D., Ph.D..
MIT Technology: Mayo Clinic is making advances toward longer-lasting liver "dialysis" using pig cells

More on the SPHEROID RESERVOIR BAL via the Nyberg Lab web page (Artificial Liver and Liver Transplantation Lab)

Gambro receives 510(k) clearance for MARS for drug overdose and poisoning treatment

Gambro Renal Products (GRP) announced today that it has received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for the Molecular Adsorbents Recirculating System® in cases of drug overdose and poisoning. The MARS® Therapy will be available in the U.S. toward the end of 2005 for drug overdose and poisoning treatment.

Arbios: FDA approval for SEPET clinical trial

On April 22, 2005, Arbios received FDA approval for a clinical trial to test SEPET(TM)'s safety and tolerability in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic liver failure.
SEPET (selective plasma filtration therapy) is a single-use cartridge that contains specially designed porous tubes, serving as a blood detoxification measure to provide temporary liver support during acute liver failure and acute exacerbation of chronic liver disease. SEPET-therapy will be provided through a single-use, disposable cartridge containing a bundle of hollow fibers made of a bio- and hemo-compatible material, capable of sieving substances with molecular weight of up to 100 kDa. When patient's blood is pumped through these fibers, substances normally metabolized by the liver and accumulated in the blood during liver failure move across the porous wall and are discarded. Depending on individual patients needs, electrolyte solution, human albumin solution, fresh frozen plasma or a combination thereof is used as a replacement fluid.

'Artificial support in case of hepatic failure'; a report from the Dutch Health Council

R.A.F.M. Chamuleau is giving a report from the Dutch Health Council on 'Artificial support in case of hepatic failure' and is asking to revise, the Dutch moratorium on xenotransplantation in the January issue of Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd (Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2005 Jan 29;149(5):221-3.):
Acute liver failure has a high mortality (40-95%) depending on the cause. Emergency liver transplantation is the only way to improve survival: a one-year survival of 5o-6o%. In the past, many different modalities of artificial liver support have been studied. None of them appeared to be able to improve survival compared to maximal intensive care treatment. Two rather recent approaches are the development of a bioartificial liver (BAL), charged with billions of porcine liver cells, and albumin dialysis (MARS). A signalling report has been sent to the Dutch Minister of Health to resume the current position of BAL and MARS in the treatment of severe liver failure. The outcome is that no firm conclusions can yet be drawn as to the applicability of these modalities. Only two small-scale controlled clinical trials have been published on the MARS technique and the only published large-scale controlled clinical trial of a BAL in acute liver failure is not conclusive. On theoretical grounds, BAL treatment has more potential than MARS since a BAL will replace not only the failing hepatic detoxification but also the synthetic and metabolic functions. So far, no evidence has been found for transmission ofporcine pathogens to patients despite numerous phase 1 studies of bioartificial livers charged with porcine hepatocytes. More well-designed controlled clinical trials are needed. Therefore, the Dutch moratorium on xenotransplantation should be revised.