The differentiation of human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocyte-like cells and related benefits for liver cirrhosis rats

Objective To observe the effects of hepatocyte-like cells differentiated from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HuMSCs) on the liver function of the rats with liver cirrhosis.Methods Carbon tetrachloride was used to prepare rat model of liver cirrhosis.Then the rats in the experimental group received portal vein injection of 1 ml differentiated hepatocyte-like cells (1 × 107) ; the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) group was injected with the same volume and number of MSCs; the model group was injected with the same volume of saline (NS) ; the normal rats were treated as control group.After transplantation,the rat angular vein blood and liver tissue were obtained for testing.Results One week after transplantation,compared with the model group,levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBil) in the experimental group significantly decreased (P ＜0.05),while the albumin (Alb) level increased significantly (P ＜0.05).Compared with the MSC group,the level of Alb in the experimental group also significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05),but there were no differences between the two groups of ALT,AST and TBil.4 weeks after transplantation,compared with the model group,levels of serum ALT,AST and TBil in the experimental group also significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05),while Alb level increased significantly (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the MSC group,the differences of the levels of Alb,ALT,AST and TBil were all statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Real-time PCR test results showed that the expressions of four liver-related genes of the MSC group and experimental group significantly increased comparing with the model group (P ＜ 0.05).And the experimental group showed higher expression level comparing with the MSC group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The differentiated hepatocyte-like cells could improve hepatic function of patients with liver cirrhosis to a certain degree and showed greater advantage than MSC. Key words: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells;  Hepatocyte-like cells ;  Transplantation;  Liver cirrhosis