Canine Liver Fibrosis Model to Assess the Functions of Infused Autologous Bone Marrow-Derived Cells

Abstract

Liver cirrhosis is the end stage of chronic liver disease, and the only radical treatment for decompensated liver cirrhosis is still liver transplantation. Development of effective regenerative therapy for liver cirrhosis is an urgent task. Before human clinical trials can be considered, the safety and efficacy of any planned protocol must be confirmed in medium-to-large animals. Therefore, we have developed a novel canine liver fibrosis model for proof of concept (POC) studies.