AN UPDATE ON HIGH-YIELD HEPATOCYTE ISOLATION METHODS AND ON THE POTENTIAL CLINICAL USE OF ISOLATED LIVER-CELLS

Isolated hepatocytes are a suitable system for the study of hepatic ph ysiology and metabolism. They are also used for pharmacological and to xicological studies related to hepatic uptake, metabolism, excretion a nd toxicity of xenobiotics, as well as morphological and metabolic eff ects induced in the liver as a result of drug or toxic substance expos ure. In this paper, the enzymatic methods for hepatocyte isolation in some mammalian species are reviewed, and methods for evaluating cell p urification and assessment of cellular morphology and function are als o examined. More recently, interest in hepatocyte transplantation has increased, and the clinical experimentation of hepatocyte-based liver support systems has attracted the attention of scientists and hepatolo gists. From a clinical perspective, using isolated hepatocytes could b e useful both for supporting an acutely devastated liver, a chronicall y diseased liver, and for correcting genetic disorders resulting in me tabolically deficient states. Reports of clinical usage of isolated al logenic hepatocytes in hepatocellular transplantation and of xenogenic liver cells in constructing bio-artificial liver support systems are promising, and are renewing interest in the development of methods for isolation and purification of hepatocytes. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.