Adult human liver slice cultures: Modelling of liver fibrosis and evaluation of new anti-fibrotic drugs

Daria Kartasheva-Ebertz; Jesintha Gaston; Loriane Lair-Mehiri; Pierre-Philippe Massault; Olivier Scatton; Jean-Christophe Vaillant; Vladimir Alexei Morozov; Stanislas Pol; Sylvie Lagaye

doi:10.4254/wjh.v13.i2.187

Adult human liver slice cultures: Modelling of liver fibrosis and evaluation of new anti-fibrotic drugs

World J Hepatol. 2021 Feb 27;13(2):187-217. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i2.187.

Authors

Daria Kartasheva-Ebertz¹, Jesintha Gaston¹, Loriane Lair-Mehiri¹, Pierre-Philippe Massault², Olivier Scatton³, Jean-Christophe Vaillant³, Vladimir Alexei Morozov⁴, Stanislas Pol¹, Sylvie Lagaye⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institut Pasteur, Immunobiologie des Cellules Dendritiques, INSERM U1223, Paris 75015, France.
² Service de Chirurgie digestive, Hépato-biliaire et Endocrinienne, AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Cochin, Paris 75014, France.
³ Service de Chirurgie digestive et Hépato bilio pancréatique, AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier La Pitié-Salpétrière, Medecine Sorbonne Université, Paris 75013, France.
⁴ Center for HIV and Retrovirology, Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin 13353, Germany.
⁵ Institut Pasteur, Immunobiologie des Cellules Dendritiques, INSERM U1223, Paris 75015, France. sylvie.lagaye@inserm.fr.

Abstract

Background: Liver fibrosis can result in end-stage liver failure and death.

Aim: To examine human liver fibrogenesis and anti-fibrotic therapies, we evaluated the three dimensional ex vivo liver slice (LS) model.

Methods: Fibrotic liver samples (F0 to F4 fibrosis stage according to the METAVIR score) were collected from patients after liver resection. Human liver slices (HLS) were cultivated for up to 21 days. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, alcohol (ethanol stimulation) and steatosis (palmitate stimulation) were examined in fibrotic (F2 to F4) liver slices infected (or not) with HCV. F0-F1 HLS were used as controls. At day 0, either ursodeoxycholic acid (choleretic and hepatoprotective properties) and/or α-tocopherol (antioxidant properties) were added to standard of care on HLS and fibrotic liver slices, infected (or not) with HCV. Expression of the biomarkers of fibrosis and the triglyceride production were checked by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: The cultures were viable in vitro for 21 days allowing to study fibrosis inducers and to estimate the effect of anti-fibrotic drugs. Expression of the biomarkers of fibrosis and the progression to steatosis (estimated by triglycerides production) was increased with the addition of HCV and /or ethanol or palmitate. From day 15 of the follow-up studies, a significant decrease of both transforming growth factor β-1 and Procol1A1 expression and triglycerides production was observed when a combined anti-fibrotic treatment was applied on HCV infected F2-F4 LS cultures.

Conclusion: These results show that the human three dimensional ex vivo model effectively reflects the in vivo processes in damaged human liver (viral, alcoholic, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis liver diseases) and provides the proof of concept that the LS examined model permits a rapid evaluation of new anti-fibrotic therapies when used alone or in combination.

Keywords: Alcoholic liver disease; Drugs; Ex vivo model; Hepatitis C virus; Human liver fibrosis; Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.