Packed-Bed Type Reactor to Attain High Density Culture of Hepatocytes for Use as a Bioartificial Liver

: In an attempt to develop a bioartificial liver using cultured hepatocytes, we investigated the short‐term and long‐term viability and metabolic functions of hepatocytes cultured in a new type of packed‐bed type reactor using reticulated polyvinyl formal (PVF) resin as a supporting material. Perfusion culture experiments using this reactor, as well as monolayer cultures using conventional collagen‐coated Petri dishes as control experiments, were performed. It was found that the highest density of immobilized hepatocytes attained with PVF resin was on the order of 107 cells/cm3 PVF and that hepatocytes cultured in this type of module for up to a week showed a sufficient level of liver‐specific metabolic functions, such as ammonium metabolism, urea‐N synthesis, and albumin secretion, to be comparable to those in the monolayer culture. It is concluded that the packed‐bed reactor system utilizing PVF resin is a promising means to develop a bioartificial organ using hepatocytes.