Hepatic Diseases Treated With Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord
Scientists of the University of Granada, in collaboration with the University of Leon, have confirmed that stem cells from human umbilical cord blood can be an appropriate therapy for the treatment of hepatic diseases such as hepatitis, and therefore mean an effective alternative to bone marrow. According to a scientific paper which will be shortly published in the renowned journal Cell Transplantation, human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCBCs) can be useful for hepatic regenerative medicine, as they can nest in the liver after carrying out a human-to-rat xenotransplant.
This work, carried out by Ana I. Álvarez-Mercado, María J. Sáez-Lara, María V. García-Mediavilla, Sonia Sánchez-Campos, Francisco Abadía, María Cabello-Donayre, Ángel Gil, Javier González-Gallego and Luis Fontana, did research into the regenerative potential of HUCBCs cells using a xenotransplant model from human to rat in which HUCBCs were injected through the hepatic portal vein of rats with hepatitis caused by D-galactosamine.