Abstract
To assess the perfomances of a packed-bed reactor loaded with 500 pieces of PVF resins (2x2x2mm, mean pore size; 250μm), continuous culture experiments of hepatocytes lasting a week were performed. The conventionally used monolayer culture experiments were also performed as controls. As indexes of activities of cultured hepatocytes, ammonium metabolic rate, urea-N synthetic rate and GPT activity were measured with appropriate intervals under different medium conditions. When serum-free medium or EGF-containing medium was used, ammonium metabolic and urea-N synthetic rates of the reactor showed significant decreases with time. At the end of the culture, these activities reduced to less than 10% of those measured on Day 1 in the perfusion culture. The degree of such deactivations were prominent in the perfusion culture than in the monolayer culture. On the other hand, in the runs performed with serum-containing medium, approximately 50% of these activities obtained on Day 1 were maintained even at the end of culture. Thus, the packed-bed type reactor utilizing PVF resins is expected to be a breakthrough in developing a hybrid artificial liver support system.
