In a new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation, researchers report that they successfully transplanted two kidneys from a genetically modified pig into a human who was brain dead.
The transplantation of pig organs into humans promises to increase the number of available organs for transplantation and prevent thousands of deaths in the U.S. that result each year due to a shortage of organs.
This study used a novel preclinical human model to answer numerous critical safety questions so as to promote advancement of xenotransplantation into living humans. Although the physiologic stress in the decedent was not an ideal environment to support kidney function, the kidneys produced urine and were not rejected in the short term.
The study provides important insights and identifies several areas where additional research is needed before xenotransplantation can be used to help address the current organ shortage.
“This study provides knowledge that could not be generated in animal models and moves us closer to a future where organ supply meets the tremendous need,” said senior author Jayme E. Locke, MD, MPH, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Additional Information
Link to Study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajt.16930
About Journal
The aim of the American Journal of Transplantation is the rapid publication of new, high-quality data in organ and tissue transplantation and the related sciences.
The journal reflects the field and is an agent for advancing it through critical reviews and news features, consensus documents, and guidelines. The journal is directed at scientists and clinicians in transplantation but also at those in other fields who wish to follow transplantation.
The scope is the international discipline of transplantation. This includes organ and tissue donation and preservation; tissue injury, repair, inflammation, and aging; immune recognition, regulation, effector mechanisms, and opportunities for induction of tolerance; histocompatibility; drugs and pharmacology relevant to transplantation; graft survival and prevention of graft dysfunction and failure; clinical trials and population analyses; transplant complications; xenotransplantation; and ethical and societal issues. The sciences includes relevant aspects of cell biology, medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and infectious diseases. The journal includes thoracic transplantation (heart, lung), abdominal transplantation (kidney, liver, pancreas, islets), transplantation of tissues and related topics.
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