Stem cell therapy is found to be useful in treating patients suffering from liver ailments like alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis, two studies conducted by PGIMER, Chandigarh have claimed.
 

The patients with decompensated cirrhosis mostly have to opt for liver transplantation, but the limited availability of donor organs and high cost results in high waitlist mortality, Virendra Singh, professor, department of hepatology, PGIMER, told a news conference here today. Stem cells of one's own body help in liver regeneration and delay or possibly avoid liver transplant. Singh said the stem cell therapy "might act as a bridge for liver transplant" and can provide some time to the patients to arrange for liver transplant or in some cases help avoid need for transplant.

"The cost of stem cell therapy is about Rs 10,000 for multiple courses and only Rs 3,000 for single course required for patients with alcoholic hepatitis," he said, adding a liver transplant costs anywhere between Rs 10-15 lakh in government hospital as against Rs 20-35 lakh in a private institution.

"We stimulated the bone marrow by injection called Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (GCSF) which produced new cells called hematopoietic stem cells. Total blood count increases many fold and some of these cells home into liver and take function of liver cells and result in liver regeneration.

"The same principle was used in these two studies, which have been published in top hepatology journals this month. The study on decompensated cirrhosis has been published in Hepatology and on alcoholic hepatitis in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology," he informed. He said, "with the stem cell therapy the survival was better in the patients who were taken up for the clinical trial. The patients were in the age group of 45-55 years".

The patients showed improvement in nutrition, better control of ascites, reduction in liver stiffness, lesser infection episodes and improvement in liver function. Besides, Dr Virendra Singh, the team of doctors which conducted the trials over past five years comprised of doctors Ratiram Sharma, Nipun Verma, Amarjit Keisham, Ashish Bhalla, Navneet Sharma, Amritjyot Kaur, Ritesh Agarwal, Akash Singh and Arka De.

"We are also running two projects on liver regeneration funded by Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. We are also shortly starting a liver regeneration clinic at PGIMER, Chandigarh," he said.