Study on Intrasplenic Transplantation of Induced Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Treatment of Acute Liver Injury

Background:The development of stem cells provides new insights into therapies of liver disease.Studies have suggested that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)are capable of differentiation into mature cells of multiple mesenchvmal tissues,and might have the ability to differentiate into cell types other than those of the tissues in which they reside or derive during embryonic development.Aims:To investigate the curative effects of intrasplenic transplantation of induced bone marrow MSCs for treatment of acute liver injury.Methods:Bone marrow MSCs of BALB/c mice were isolated and expanded by density gradient centrifugation combined with adherent culture.MSCs were induced to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells in vitro.The markers of hepatocyte-like cells were detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)and immunocytochemical method.The BALB/c mice were treated with 0.2% CCl_4 peanut oil mixture by intraperitoneal injection to establish acute liver injury model.DAPI-labelled MSCs on the 21st day after induction were transplanted into the spleen of mice.Distribution of DAPI-labelled cells were observed by fluorescence microscopy.Liver function indexes and histopathological changes of liver were examined.Results:Alpha- fetoprotein mRNA and protein were expressed on the 7th and 14th day after induction.Albumin mRNA and protein were expressed on the 14th and 21st day after induction.DAPI-labelled cells were found in spleen and liver in treatment group. Compared with control group,levels of serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and aspartate aminotransferease(AST) decreased after transplantation(P0,05),and severity of histopathological changes of liver alleviated in treatment group. Conclusions:Intrasplenic transplantation of induced bone marrow MSCs can ameliorate the acute liver injury.