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Donor cells give infant's liver time to heal from herpes simplex virus

Physicians at King’s College Hospital in London successfully injected donor liver cells into a 2-week-old infant to temporarily perform liver functions while the patient’s own liver recovered from a potentially fatal herpes simplex virus.

The injected donor liver cells were encased in 0.5-mm beads made of a biocompatible material that prevented the cells from being attacked by the patient’s immune system, according to a King’s College Hospital press release.

The beads were injected into the abdomen of the patient after tests showed that his liver was enlarged and failing, the release said. The herpes simplex virus, harmless in adults, had infected his liver; his kidneys were also beginning to fail and he was receiving dialysis treatment.

The patient, born in February 2011, is now recovering, and his own liver is functioning normally, the release said.

“This technique could mean we are able — potentially — to explore other treatment options for patients whose livers start to fail, and for whom a transplant is not always an option, or an organ isn’t readily available,” Prof. Nigel Heaton, director of Transplant Surgery at King’s, said in the release.

Disclosure: Technology used to develop the microbeads was funded by WellChild, the UK Department of Health and the National Institute for Health Research.