Hepatocellular Transplantation into the Rat Spleen: Transplantation of Hepatocytes Isolated from Cirrhotic Liver

Abstract

In 1976, we reported that the spleen was the most suitable location for the survival of hepatocytes isolated from a normal adult rat liver. The transplanted hepatocytes proliferated markedly in the splenic red pulp of syngeneic rats, and 8 months after transplantation, proceeded to form hepatic cords with sinusoids (Ebata et al. 1978). Fourteen to seventeen months after transplantation, the developed hepatized spleen, in which hepatocytes occupied approximately 40% of the area, showed proper hepatic functions (Mito et al. 1979a). These results suggested that hepatocellular transplantation into the spleen might have some potential clinical application to compensate for impaired hepatic function.