Presently, the orthotropic
liver transplantation (OLT) is still the most effective therapeutic for patients with acute or chronic
hepatic failure. However, due to the shortage of donor livers, the number of patients benefited from this approach is limited. Therefore, some alternative modalities have been paid attention for restoring the liver function. The
cell transplantation is one of the promising modalities to realize this purpose. The types of cells used in the
cell transplantation include syngeneic hepatocytes, allogeneic hepatocytes, immortalized hepatocytes, and stem cells derived heptocytes. The stem cells, especially the adult stem cells from bone marrow, are shown as a promising cell source for liver repopulation. The mesenchymal bone marrow stem cells and embryonic stem cells can be induced to differentiate into the hepatic lineage and might be used in the
cell transplantation for
liver diseases. Compared to OLT, the advantages of cell-based
therapy for
liver disease are, but not limited to, less invasive, less expensive, easy manipulated, easy expansion of cells in vitro. Cells can be stored in a cell bank for future use. Though most of the current studies are experimental and animal based, the cellular
therapy for
liver disease is expected to be an effective alternative in clinical settings in near future.