Doctors of the University of Medicine of Guangzhou completed the first pig pulmonary transplantation to a human.
The first human pork lung transplant was made in China in a person in brain death, to test how the host’s immune system dealt with the procedure.
Similar experiences involving patients in brain death had already been done, but with a lung was the first time.
The experience, described in a study this Monday in Nature Medicineinvolved a 39 -year -old man in brain death, in a procedure known as pulmonary xenotransplant.
“Pulmonary xenotransplantation has unique biological and technical challenges compared to other organs,” said one of the study authors Jiang Shifrom the University of Mecidina de Guangzhouin statements to.
The objective of the study was to investigate how the human immune system would react to such transplantation; And the investigators took over: the Technique is not yet fit to apply to living patients.
The pig lung “maintained viability and functionality” for nine days. However, showed signs of rejection just 24 hours after the procedure.
The experience ended on the ninth day at the request of the patient’s family. By the report, it is not clear the longer the lung could have lasted if it had been left the more time, but the organ had already accumulated damage.
As details, the experience involved a lung of a pig that had been genetically modified using genetic editing technology Crispr.
Three of the pig genes were deactivated so that the proteins to which they encode do not activate the human immune system; Three human genes were also added in an attempt to make the organ more tolerable to a human body.
In May 2024, the team removed the left lung from the pork and transplained it to the patient in brain death, who retained his right lung.
The immune system generated antibodies against the organ until the third day after the operation, resulting in some lung damage.
Investigators report that lungs have huge challenges Because, since they are constantly exposed to the air from the outside of the body, they carry many proteins intended for immune defense – which paradoxically makes them an easy target for the host’s immune system recognize them as “strangers.” In addition, its oxygen and carbon dioxide fabric is very delicate, meaning that any immune attacks launched against them have great impact.
Although they have recognized that the technique is not yet 100%, the study authors report that they “refine the approach of pulmonary xenotransplantation”, to approach clinical translation.
“This experience provides crucial perceptions of the immunity, physiological and genetic barriers that should be overcome, and paves the way for more innovations in the area.”, They praise, quoted by Live Science.
