After recently performing a pig-to-human heart transplant, surgeons at the University of Alabama have again successfully transplanted kidneys from a genetically altered pig into a human.
According to reports, the patient is a “57-year-old brain-dead man” whose kidneys were removed to make room for two pig kidneys. The report indicated that it took about 23 minutes before the kidneys began to function, creating urine for three days, until the end of their study. However, one kidney worked better than the other, although there was no sign of either being rejected by the patient’s immune system.
Per several reports, it’s the closest surgeons have come to the goal since September last year. At New York University, Langone doctors transplanted a pig’s kidney to a brain-dead patient being supported by a ventilator. The kidney functioned normally for 54 hours, the doctors reported, which was a breakthrough at the time.
Dr. Jayme Locke, director of UAB’s Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program, in a statement said: “This game-changing moment in the history of medicine represents a paradigm shift and a major milestone in the field of xenotransplantation, which is arguably the best solution to the organ shortage crisis.
“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”.
Dr. Jayme Locke
Locke also explained that it’s not uncommon to use brain-dead patients for this purpose, because if it worked for them, it should work for healthy patients just as well. During an interview, she said: “The brain death environment is quite hostile, making assessment of kidney function difficult (e.g., urine output, creatinine clearance), and is not surprising given that even in human-to-human transplantation kidneys from brain-dead donors often… do not make urine for a week and take several more weeks to clear creatinine”.
This is the latest development in the ongoing effort to establish animal-human organ transplantation, called xenotransplantation, and to meet the rising demand for viable organs. Just recently, doctors at the University of Maryland transplanted a heart from another genetically modified pig into a 57-year-old patient with heart failure, who survived the procedure and is still currently under observation.
Dr. Locke in an earlier interaction, emphasized that their procedure is more “proof-of-concept that pig-to-human transplantation works”. According to Dr. Locke, she hopes to launch a small clinical trial with live, conscious patients by the end of the year and to be able to offer pig kidneys to her patients within five years.
“Our goal is not to have a one-off, but to advance the field to help our patients. What a wonderful day it will be when I can walk into clinic and know I have a kidney for everyone waiting to see me!”.
Dr. Locke
Kidney disease is a leading cause of death in the US. Doctors perform more than 20,000 kidney transplants annually in the US, according to the United States Renal Data System. However, the waiting list is much longer. According to the National Kidney Foundation, approximately 12 people die every day waiting for a kidney.
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