MSC-EVs in Acute/ Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure After Liver Transplantation

Acute liver failure (ALF) refers to a potentially reversible disorder that was the result of severe liver injury, with an onset of encephalopathy within 8 weeks of symptom appearance and in the absence of pre-existing liver disease. Acute-on-chronic liver failure refers to a liver failure syndrome in which some patients with chronic liver disease with relatively stable liver function suffer from acute liver decompensation and liver failure due to the effects of various acute injury factors. Liver transplantation is the only curative treatment for this type of end-stage liver disease. The potential of MSCs to repair or regenerate damaged tissue and suppress immune responses makes them promising in the treatment of liver diseases, especially in the field of liver transplantation. Many studies have shown that MSC-based therapies can reduce the symptoms of liver disease due to their paracrine effects. Therefore, compared to the cells they derive from, mesenchymal stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EV) are gradually gaining attention for their enhanced safety, as they do not replicate or cause microvascular embolism, and can be easily stored without losing their properties. It represents a novel and effective cell-free therapeutic agent as alternative to cell-based therapies for liver diseases, and liver failure was also concerned. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of MSC-EV in acute-on-chronic liver failure after liver transplantation.