Science has shown that it is very difficult to grow liver cells in the laboratory which makes treating liver disease a difficult task. Until recently when researchers from the University of Cambridge showed how it is possible to create diseased liver-like cells from patients having several liver disorders.
The principal investigator for the study, Dr Ludovic Vallier of the Centre for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Cambridge, published the findings in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigations. The process involved researchers taking skin biopsies from patients who suffered from various inherited liver diseases and three healthy individuals. Next, they used skin cells to re-program back into stem cells. The resulting stem cells were then used to create liver cells that mimicked several liver diseases. This was the first time that specific liver diseases have been developed by using stem cells, and then used to create ‘healthy’ liver cells from the control group (healthy patients).
It is anticipated that by doing the aforementioned — replicating the organ’s cells — researchers can both examine what is going on in a diseased cell and test the utility of new treatment protocols. The research findings could be significant in dealing with liver disease and aid in reducing racial/ethnic disparities in morbidity and mortality rates due to chronic liver disease among African Americans.
