Review Article

Autologous Bone Marrow Stem Cells in the Treatment of Chronic Liver Disease

Table 1

Clinical trials of bone marrow stem cells in liver disease.

ReferencePatient groupNumber ( )Site injectionBM cellsOutcome

Am Esch II et al. [36]Patients with liver cancer, no cirrhosisStudy: 3
Control: 3
Portal veinAutologous,
bone marrow,
CD133+
2.5-fold increase in left lobe in study group on CT volumetry

Gordon et al. [34]Hepatitis B or C
Alcoholic cirrhosis and
primary sclerosing cholangitis
5Portal vein 3
Hepatic artery 2
Autologous
peripheral blood,
post-G-CSF CD34+
Improvement in albumin or bilirubin in 3/5 patients

Terai et al. [38]Hepatitis B or C
Cirrhosis
9Peripheral veinAutologous,
iliac crest,
unsorted BM
Improvement in the Child-Pugh Score and albumin

Yannaki et al. [39]Alcoholic cirrhosis2Peripheral veinAutologous
Peripheral blood,
post-G-CSF CD34+
Improvement in the Child-Pugh and MELD Score

Furst et al. [37]*Patients with liver cancer, no cirrhosisStudy: 6
Control: 7
Portal veinAutologous,
bone marrow,
CD133+
Increase in daily liver growth

Lyra et al. [41]Alcoholic, hepatitis C, cholestatic and cryptogenic cirrhosis10Hepatic arteryAutologous,
Iliac crest,
unsorted BM
Improvement in Child’s Pugh score, bilirubin, and albumin

Gasbarrini et al. [43]Drug-induced acute liver failure1Portal veinAutologous
Peripheral blood,
post-G-CSF CD34+
Improvement in clotting (PT), AST, and ALT up to 30 days
Patient died of sepsis at day 60

Yan et al. [40]Hepatitis B cirrhosis2Hepatic arteryAutologous peripheral blood monocytes post-G-CSFImprovement in albumin, Bilirubin, AST, ALT, and the Child-Pugh Score

Mohamadnejad et al. [45]Decompensated cirrhosis4Hepatic arteryAutologous bone marrow-haematopoietic CD34+ cellsTwo patients showed minor improvement in albumin one had nephropathy and hepatorenal syndrome—trial terminated

Mohamadnejad et al. [46]Decompensated cirrhosis4Peripheral veinAutologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cellsMELD Score improvement in 2 patients

Pai et al. [49]Alcoholic liver cirrhosis9Hepatic arteryAutologous, post-G-CSF, CD34+ cells expanded in vitro Significant improvement in bilirubin and liver enzymes

Khan et al. [44]Hepatitis B or C4Hepatic arteryAutologous, post-G-CSF, CD34+ cellsImprovement in liver function

Kharaziha et al. [47]Hepatitis B or C Alcoholic cirrhosis and Cryptogenic8Peripheral or portal veinAutologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cellsSignificant improvement in MELD Score

Lyra et al. [42]Hepatitis B or C
Alcoholic and
cryptogenic cirrhosis
Study: 15
Control: 15
Hepatic arteryAutologous mononuclear-enriched bone marrow cellsImprovement in liver function

Kim et al. [48]Hepatitis B10Peripheral veinAutologous bone marrow cellsImprovement in albumin, quality of life, and the Child-Pugh Score

*This includes Am Esch II et al. [36].