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Research collection of variants of normal and fatty liver disease in human livers

  • Published on October 28, 2016
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Full Title

Research collection of variants of normal and fatty liver disease in human livers

Abstract

XenoTech has developed a Research Biobank that is a collection of normal, steatosis and steatohepatitis tissue samples gathered and characterized to facilitate the study of human liver disease with an emphasis on the progression of fatty liver disease. A portion of each of the human livers, which were harvested with the intent of transplantation but subsequently rejected for this purpose, and were obtained through partnerships with non-profit Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO) which are members of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), is saved in the Research Biobank. Donor-specific data provided by the organ procurement organizations includes demographics, cause of death, BMI, and alcohol and diabetes history. Pathologist’s review of the H&E slides includes classification of the samples into normal, steatosis or steatohepatitis categories and quantification of macrovesicular fat, inflammation, ballooning hepatocytes and fibrosis. Presence of fibrosis is confirmed with Masson’s Trichrome staining. Tissues deposited in the bank are flash frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C. Cells isolated from multiple tissues deposited in the bank are available as cryopreserved hepatocytes for culture in suspension or as an attached cell monolayer. These cells are suitable for an array of studies including in vivo / in vitro correlation of drug metabolism and biomarker expression that characterize fatty liver disease. The bank contains normal, steatosis and steatohepatitis specimens, with and without a history of alcohol use. Photomicrographs of H&E slides of each tissue are available. The levels of CYP2A6, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 mRNA expression in normal (10), steatosis (19) and steatohepatitis (11) specimens were analyzed by RT-PCR. The relative quantification of each of the enzymes was based on the ΔCT with GAPDH serving as an endogenous control. The relative quantification of the mRNAs was not affected by tissue pathology (ANOVA). In conclusion, we have established a Research Biobank, derived from transplantation-rejected organs, that is focused on alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

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