Liver diseases; such as viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and associated end-stage liver disease; is a global health concern [1].
The liver has many functions; such as protein, triglyceride, cholesterol, and glycogen synthesis, detoxication, drug metabolism and bile secretion. It is a highly regenerative and resilient organ. However, prolonged chronic, severe or acute injury will adversely affect its regenerative potential [2].
The mechanisms that cause acute liver failure are divided into two phases. Firstly, a virus or a toxin disturbs the delicate balance that exists between cells and directly damages liver cells. This sends out a distress signal, in the form of inflammation, that causes the body’s immune system to spring into action. In order to remedy the condition, the immune system first needs to determine if the condition requires a protection response (M1) or a repair response (M2). Unfortunately, the distress signal that was sent out is hard to distinguish and elicits similar inflammatory responses. The second phase of damage occurs when the immune system mistakenly releases the wrong response. All of these mechanisms contribute to programmed cell death (apoptosis), programmed cell elimination (autophagy), unprogrammed cell death (necrosis), inflammatory cell death (necroptosis) and leads to immune-mediated liver injury [3,4,5,6].
Long-term damage gradually results in the loss of liver function and accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM), finally leading to liver cirrhosis [7,8].
Without efficient treatment, all types of chronic hepatitis will progress to end-stage liver diseases; such as cirrhosis, chronic liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma [9].
When chronic hepatitis progresses to end-stage liver disease, conventional management for liver failure generally does little to promote hepatic repair despite the availability of a broad array of treatment options. Currently, the only curative treatment for end-stage liver disease is liver transplantation, but donor shortage and waiting list mortality, high costs, long-term side effects, post-operative morbidity and mortality severely limit its application [10,11].
How Our Products Can Treat Liver Disease
We use products derived from human baby umbilical cords in all our therapy programs - Wharton's Jelly MSCs (wjMSCs). Our products are special because they can:
Treating Liver Disease
There are currently numerous clinical trials exploring the use of wjMSCs in the treatment of liver diseases. These have been registered but results and findings have yet to be posted [46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60].
Between 2011 and 2015, 16 Chinese clinical trials explored the use of human umbilical cord MSCs (wjMSCs) in treating 326 liver cirrhosis patients and 102 liver failure patients [61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76]. The studies involved 683 patients, out of which only 428 patients received wjMSCs treatment. Treatment protocols varied from multiple intravenous infusions of 100,000 wjMSCs per kilogram of body weight to a single intravenous infusion of 1.5 billion wjMSCs. Follow-up periods varied from 2 months to 1 year. Post-treatment, wjMSC treated patients showed a reduction in model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score at 12 weeks, increase in albumin (ALB) levels at 8 to 24 weeks and a reduction in total bilirubin (TBiL) levels at 12 weeks [77].
In 2012, 5 Chinese clinical trials published their findings.
Scientists at the Research Center for Biological Therapy, 302 Military Hospital of China transplanted 500,000 to 1 million wjMSCs per kilogram of body weight into 38 patients (treatment group) who suffered from decompensated liver cirrhosis and ascites. 16 patients (control group) did not receive treatment and were given saline instead. The study found that albumin (A1b) levels were significantly increased after 36 weeks and the ascites markedly reduced after 48 weeks in the treatment group only [78,79].
Another clinical trial involved a total of 45 chronic hepatitis B patients and decompensated liver cirrhosis with ascites. 30 patients (treatment group) received 3 doses of 500,000 wjMSCs per kilogram of body weight once every 4 weeks. The control group of 15 patients received 3 doses of saline once every 4 weeks as well. All patients were followed-up for an additional 40 weeks post-treatment. In the treatment group, albumin (ALB) levels were significantly higher at weeks 36 and 48. Serum cholinesterase (CHE) levels were significantly increased at week 4. Total bilirubin (TBiL) levels were significantly decreased after week 2; in particular, at week 48. Thrombin markers: such as prothrombin activity (PTA) was significantly increased and international normalised ratio (INR) levels were decreased accordingly. Serum creatinine (CRE) levels were significantly decreased at week 8. Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores were significantly decreased at week 48. At weeks 36 and 48, the platelet counts were significantly higher in treated patients. The study further found that the hypogastric ascites volume (by ultrasonography) was significantly decreased in the treatment group at weeks 1, 2, 12, 36, and 48. The rate of ascites disappearance was significantly higher in the treatment group than that in the control group as well. Liver fibrosis markers (serum laminin, hyaluronic acid, PIIINP, and type IV collagen) were significantly decreased at weeks 24 and 48 in the treatment group. Hepatic growth factor (HGF) has been found to attenuate liver fibrosis [80]. The treatment group had significantly higher levels of serum HGF at week 48 than in the control group [81].
Later that year, a combined clinical trial by the Postgraduate Medical School of Chinese PLA and the 309th Hospital of Chinese PLA treated 30 patients with decompensated cirrhosis; 12 patients (transplantation group) were treated with wjMSCs while 18 patients (control group) were treated with conventional therapy only. After transplantation, the transplantation group’s albumin (ALB) levels significantly increased from 2 to 12 weeks. Both alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and prothrombin time (PT) levels began to decrease at 2 weeks while total bilirubin (TBiL) levels showed a significant increase from 4 to 12 weeks [82].
Lastly, a clinical trial by Soochow University investigated the therapeutic effect of wjMSCs on 7 patients with autoimmune liver diseases (AILD). They reported that clinical symptoms; such as appetite, sleep, strength and lethargy; were significantly improved post-treatment. Serum albumin (ALB), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (ALT), glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (AST), total serum bilirubin (TSB), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) levels of all patients were significantly improved as well [83].
Cyrona’s Program
Achieving high standards in our work is of paramount importance to us. Depending on a patient’s needs, we combine our premium grade Passage 2 wjMSCs with physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and/or rehabilitative medicine.
Learn more about our Products and Programs.
Why Choose Cyrona?
Therapy Packages
All our therapy packages come inclusive of:
INTERNATIONAL PATIENTS
LOCAL PATIENTS
How Do We Proceed
All our therapies are charged based on the number of wjMSCs and supplementary infusions required for the patient’s specific condition. As no two people are alike, our specialists review each patient’s medical reports before tailoring a therapy catered to addressing his or her individual needs.
You may chat with one of our Customer Care Representatives or send an e-mail detailing the patient’s condition to one of our Liaison Officers. It would expedite the process if you can provide us with:
Upon getting in touch with us, a Liaison Officer evaluates and assigns the case to the specialist best equipped to treat the condition. A therapy, unique only to the patient, is drawn up and a price quoted accordingly.
Should you decide to proceed with therapy, our specialists require that all patients have Cancer Marker Screening performed in their country of residence before travelling to us for therapy. If the patient has had Cancer Marker Screening within the last 3 months, you may e-mail those results to us. In the event that the patient’s Cancer Marker Screening results are not satisfactory, our specialists will refuse to proceed with therapy. It is for this reason that we request that patients have Cancer Marker Screening performed in their country of residence prior to travelling to us.
One week prior to arrival, a deposit payment is required in order to arrange accommodation and transportation.
Full payment is required to be made one-day prior to therapy commencement.
Post-treatment, our specialist will provide the patient with a post-treatment protocol as well as what to expect on his or her journey towards a better, and hopefully, healthier new life.
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