Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell (UC -MSC) Transplantation for Children Suffering From Biliary Atresia

Biliary atresia (BA) is the most frequent cause of chronic cholestasis in neonates, accounting for at least 50% of pediatric liver transplantation. BA incidence is estimated to range from 1:5000 to 1:19000 live births. All patients will die due to complications of liver cirrhosis if the operation is not performed. Recently, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation has been found as a promising therapy for liver cirrhosis in adults. Bone marrow-derived stem cell transplantation was also performed successfully for children with BA. Compared to MSC isolation from bone marrow, isolating MSCs from umbilical cord (UC) tissue is a less invasive procedure.

Furthermore, UC-derived MSCs (UC-MSCs) have been demonstrated to be safe and effective for liver cirrhosis in adults and different pediatric diseases, including liver cirrhosis due to primary biliary cirrhosis. The investigators will compare the outcomes of 17 Kasai operated BA patients who receive UC-MSC transplantation to 17 BA patients who only undergo Kasai operation. Two transplantations of UC - MSCs will be performed via the hepatic artery: the first transplant will be performed at baseline, and the second one will be performed 6 months later with a dosage of 1 million MSCs per kg of body weight. The frequency and severity of the adverse events or serious adverse events associated with UC-MSC injection at 72 hours post-injection will be used to assess the safety. The efficacy of the therapy will be measured using Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) score, liver function, and liver biopsy. This study would open a novel cell therapy to improve outcomes of patients with BA.