The Clinical Outcomes of Stem Cell Therapy for Decompensated Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Worldwide, many patients with decompensated liver disease cannot get timely liver transplantation due to the shortage of the liver donors. In this case, stem cell therapy seems to be an alternative for patients with end stage liver disease. The aim of this article is to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation in patients with decompensated liver disease. Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies. Only controlled trials were enrolled in this meta-analysis. Random effect model or fixed effect model will be used to analyze the collected data depending on the heterogeneity of the pooled studies. Review Manager 5.3 was used for statistical analysis. 8 publications involving 9 controlled studies were included in the final analysis. The studies were conducted in China, Iran, Egypt and India. Cell transplantation did not change the level of serum albumin and model for end stage liver disease score at 12 w and 24 w. Furthermore, no matter at 12 w or 24 w, the serum level of total bilirubin showed statistical decline. However, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and prothrombin activity were improved significantly at 12 w, but this change was not obvious at 24 w. Stem cell transplantation showed some desirable outcomes in a relatively short term. However, many hepatic parameters did not last in the long term. Further studies are needed to explore the efficacy in patients with decompensated liver disease.