Bioreactor for long-term maintenance of differentiated hepatic cell functions.

A culture model and a bioreactor construction for hepatocyte in vitro culture is described. The reactor is based on capillaries for hepatocyte immobilisation. Four discrete capillary membrane systems, each serving different purposes, are woven to create a three-dimensional framework for decentralized cell perfusion with low metabolite gradients and decentralized oxygenation and CO2 removal. The biochemical performance of reactors initially seeded with 2.5 x 109 pig hepatocytes was evaluated (pig albumin synthesis, midazolam- and lidocaine/MEGX metabolism, galactose elimination, enzymeleakage). The specific construction of the reactor enables a use in pharmacology alternatively to animal experiments.