An update on high-yield hepatocyte isolation methods and on the potential clinical use of isolated liver cells.

Isolated hepatocytes are a suitable system for the study of hepatic physiology and metabolism. They are also used for pharmacological and toxicological studies related to hepatic uptake, metabolism, excretion and toxicity of xenobiotics, as well as morphological and metabolic effects induced in the liver as a result of drug or toxic substance exposure. In this paper, the enzymatic methods for hepatocyte isolation in some mammalian species are reviewed, and methods for evaluating cell purification and assessment of cellular morphology and function are also examined. More recently, interest in hepatocyte transplantation has increased, and the clinical experimentation of hepatocyte-based liver support systems has attracted the attention of scientists and hepatologists. From a clinical perspective, using isolated hepatocytes could be useful both for supporting an acutely devastated liver, a chronically diseased liver, and for correcting genetic disorders resulting in metabolically deficient states. Reports of clinical usage of isolated allogenic hepatocytes in hepatocellular transplantation and of xenogenic liver cells in constructing bio-artificial liver support systems are promising, and are renewing interest in the development of methods for isolation and purification of hepatocytes.