Table 2. Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.
| StudyRef | Year | Country | Design | Case/controls | Sex (male %) | Age (years, mean ± SD) | Child-Pugh class | Type of infused cells and volume | Cell dose | Route | Patients and disease etiology, n | Follow-up length | |
| Treated group | Control group | ||||||||||||
| Salama et al.29 | 2010 | Egypt | RCT | 90/50 | 117 (78%) | 50.2 ± 6.05 | 50.9 ± 7.23 | B-C | Autologous CD34+ and CD133+ stem cells (250 mL) | 5*107 | PV | HBV + HCV | 6 months |
| Lyra et al.14 | 2010 | Austria | RCT | 15/15 | NA | 56.7 ± 9.23 | 50.0 ± 10.37 | A-C | Autologous BMCs (20 mL) | (3.78 ± 2.69)*108 | HA | 30 alcoholic | 12 months |
| Amer et al.16 | 2011 | Egypt | Case-control | 20/20 | 33 (82.5%) | NA | NA | C | Autologous BM-MSCs (95 ± 25 mL) | 2 × 108 | Intrasplenic or intrahepatic | 40 HCV | 6 months |
| Peng et al.15 | 2011 | China | Case-control | 39/77 | NA | 42.19 ± 10.80 | 42.22 ± 1.37 | NA | Autologous BM-MSCs (100–120 mL) | (3.4–3.8)*108 | HA | 116 HBV | 3 months |
| El-Ansary et al.30 | 2012 | Egypt | Case-control | 10/15 | 19 (76%) | 48.0 ± 7.4 | 51.6 ± 7.2 | NA | Autologous BM-MSCs (90 mL) | 106/kg | PV | 25 HCV | 6 months |
| Mohamadnejad et al.32 | 2013 | Iran | RCT | 11/14 | 13 (52%) | 43.1 ± 17.6 | 34.6 ± 13.8 | B-C | Autologous BM-MSCs (100 mL) | (1.2–2.95)*108 | PV | 2 HBV + 1 HCV + 2 PBC + 9 AIH + 11 cryptogenic | 12 months |
| Liao et al.31 | 2013 | China | Case-control | 6/6 | 9 (75%) | NA | NA | NA | Autologous BMDLSCs (30–40 mL) | (9.08 ± 1.77)*108 | HA | 12 HBV | 3 months |
| Xu et al.17 | 2014 | China | RCT | 20/19 | 24 (64.9%) | 44 ± 12 | 45 ± 10 | NA | Autologous BM-MSCs (130–150 mL) | (8.45 ± 3.28) ×108 | HA | 39 HBV | 6 months |
| Bai et al.34 | 2014 | China | Case-control | 32/15 | 29 (61.7%) | 46.4 ± 11.6 | 47.4 ± 11.1 | B-C | Autologous BM-MNCs (80–100 mL) | NA | HA | 43 HBV + 4 alcoholic | 24 months |
| Liu et al.33 | 2014 | China | RCT | 40/37 | 70 (91%) | 51.6 ± 9.2 | 50.4 ± 8.5 | B-C | Autologous BMSCs (10 mL) | (3.2 ± 1.6)*1011 | HA | 77 HBV | 3 months |
| Salama et al.35 | 2014 | Egypt | RCT | 20/20 | 117 (78%) | 50.27 ± 6.05 | 50.9 ± 7.23 | B-C | Autologous CD34+ and CD133+ stem cells (100 mL) | 106/kg | PV | 40 HCV | 6 months |
| Al Tayeb et al.36 | 2015 | Egypt | Case-control | 10/10 | 20 (100%) | 49.20 ± 3.27 | 49.20 ± 3.27 | B-C | Autologous BMSCs (50 mL) | (0.25–1.91)*108 | HA | 20 HBV | 6 months |
| Suk et al.38 | 2016 | Korea | RCT | 18/18 | 32 (89%) | 53.1 ± 8.7 | 53.7 ± 8.2 | B-C | Autologous BMSCs (10 mL) | 5*107 | HA | 48 alcoholic | 12months |
| Mohamadnejad et al.37 | 2016 | Tehran | RCT | 10/9 | 12 (63%) | 43.90 ± 14.84 | 46.22 ± 15.31 | B-C | Autologous BMSCs (20 mL) | (7.62 ± 5.53)*108 | PV | 8 AIH + 1 PBC+ 10 cryptogenic | 6 months |
| Wu et al.39 | 2017 | China | RCT | 42/42 | 49 (58%) | 49 ± 11 | 50 ± 10 | B-C | Autologous BM-MSCs (80 mL) | 106/kg | HA | 84 HBV | 6 months |
Abbreviations: AIH, autoimmune hepatitis; BMCs, bone marrow cells; BMDLSCs, bone marrow-derived liver stem cells; BMSCs, bone marrow stem cells; BM-MNCs, bone marrow mononuclear cells; BM-MSCs, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; HA, hepatic artery; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; PBC, primary biliary cirrhosis; PV, portal vein or peripheral vein; RCT, randomized controlled trial.