Hepatocyte Transplantation

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Abstract
Attempts to treat a variety of conditions, including type I diabetes mellitus and fulminant liver failure, with epithelial-cell transplantation have been disappointing. In this issue of the Journal, Fox and colleagues report partial correction of the metabolic defect of Crigler–Najjar syndrome type I by transplantation of isolated, allogeneic human hepatocytes.1 They have shown that hepatocyte transplantation is relatively easy to accomplish. Although their report is based on one hepatocyte infusion in one patient, the procedure was safe and relatively inexpensive as compared with orthotopic liver transplantation.Hepatocyte transplantation has been proposed for two types of situations: as “gene therapy” for . . .