Patient-derived liver organoids recapitulate liver epithelial heterogeneity and enable precision modeling of alcohol-related liver disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Animal models poorly recapitulate advanced alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), precluding the development of new treatments. Organoids have emerged as a powerful human-based preclinical tool; however, current patient-derived liver organoids fail to capture epithelial heterogeneity and require surgical resections, limiting their use in personalized disease modeling. Here, we describe the development of organoids from liver needle biopsies (b-Orgs) obtained from patients with ALD.

METHODS

b-Orgs were generated from tru-cut biopsies from patients at early (n = 28) and advanced (n = 34) stages of ALD. b-Orgs were characterized by immunofluorescence, bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing, and compared to parental tissues. b-Orgs were used to model ALD progression, identify pathogenic drivers, induce alcohol-associated hepatitis and evaluate response to prednisolone.

RESULTS

Phenotypic and functional analysis of b-Orgs showed hepatocyte-enriched features. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed a heterogeneous cell composition comprising hepatocyte, biliary and progenitor populations, mirroring the epithelial landscape found in patients with advanced ALD. Importantly, b-Orgs preserved disease stage features and revealed an association between ELF3, cell plasticity, and disease progression. Finally, stimulation of b-Orgs with drivers of ALD induced pathophysiological features of alcohol-associated hepatitis, including reactive oxygen species production, lipid accumulation, inflammation and decreased cell proliferation, which were attenuated by prednisolone.

CONCLUSIONS

We describe a human-based model that captures epithelial complexity and patient-specific features of ALD. This approach enables the identification of drivers of cell plasticity and highlights the potential of organoid-based liver disease modeling for personalized medicine.

IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: While organoids have emerged as a powerful human-based preclinical tool, current patient-derived liver organoids fail to capture epithelial heterogeneity and require surgical resections, limiting their use in personalized disease modeling. Here, we describe the generation of biopsy-derived organoids (b-Orgs) from patients with varying stages of alcohol-related liver disease. b-Orgs capture the liver epithelial cell composition found in patients' liver tissue and are efficiently generated from different stages of the disease, providing a platform for patient-tailored disease modeling and drug testing.