Long-term survival induction of rat liver transplantation by recipient derived bone marrow stem cells engraftment in transplanted livers

Objective To investigate the differentiation of the bone marrow stem cells in transplanted livers and its impact on the long-term survival of rats with orthotopic liver transplantation.Methods The female recipient rats with orthotopic liver transplantation were randomized into 4 groups:blank-control group,D-hanks solution group,Mesenchymal stem cells( MSCs)group,Hematopoietic stem cells(HSCs) group.Blank-control group(n=8) performed liver transplantation only.D-hanks solution group(n = 8) received intraportal D-hanks solution.MSCs group(n = 8) and HSCs group(n = 8) underwent intraportal transplantation of MSCs and HSCs respectively(SD male,5×105/ml,0.5ml).The survival time of the rats were observed.The differentiation of the bone marrow stem cells were assessed 60 days after transplantation using in situ hybridization histochemistry(ISHH) for Sry gene and Albumin Immunohistochemistry(IHC) .Results Compared with the blank-control group and the D-hanks solution group,MST of the MSCs group and the HSCs group was significantly increased(P0.05).And MST of the MSCs group was significantly longer than HSCs group(P0.05).ISHH for Sry gene and Albumin IHC double labeled cells were observed in MSCs group and HSCs group.The percentages of the double staining positive cells in MSCs group were larger than HSCs group statistically(P0.05).Conclusion Recipient derived bone marrow stem cells can differentiate into hepatocytes expressing albumin.MSCs have been shown to differentiate into liver cells more efficiently than HSCs.Infusion of bone marrow stem cells through the portal vein following liver transplantation may induce long-term liver graft survival.