The pace of developing cell-based therapeutic systems by application of cellular scaffolds has been steady though slow. In present study, a chitosan based scaffold, CH-β-GP-HEC, was implanted into the rat liver to evaluate its biocompatibility, and particularly to test its cytotoxic effects during six months after implantation. The injected rats showed no obvious inflammatory responses during examination. Histological analyses revealed no difference between sections of the livers of test, vehicle and control groups after implantation, except regions which were occupied by injected scaffolds in the test group. The microscopic observations revealed that the size of the implanted scaffolds decreased by time. Moreover, analysing liver function based on the activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), as biomarkers of liver injury, showed a significant increase in the first two weeks after implantation. This rate however, returned to normal level gradually. This reduction of the scaffold size along with the gradual reduction of the injury markers are signs of biodegradability and biocompatibility of the scaffold which make it a suitable candidate in cell based therapeutic programmes.

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