Liver regeneration in relationship to acute liver failure.

In liver disease liver cell growth and repair are central processes in the recovery of normal structure and function. In acute liver failure where greater than 80% of the liver cell mass is destroyed by drugs or viruses' complete regeneration ofa normal liver occurs in surviving patients. In contrast the insidious cell loss found in chronic viral, alcoholic, and autoimmune disease is frequently not balanced by adequate cell replacement and coupled with a disruption of the hepatic architecture eventually leads to death from liver insufficiency. In spite of a vast literature on liver regeneration and hepatotrophic factors a clear understanding of how hepatic growth is controlled has not emerged.