Also on Wednesday, researchers at the Hersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham presented a similar case study of a brain-dead patient who received a pig kidney transplant with 10 genetic mutations earlier this year. The kidney was not rejected and remained functional for 7 days. Results are peer reviewed and Published in JAMA Surgery magazine.
These two studies show that pig kidneys can maintain normal human function for an extended period of time, giving hope that one day the huge gap between kidney demand and supply can be bridged. It wasn’t proven until Wednesday, according to the surgeons and other experts involved.
“For the first time in history, we have been able to demonstrate that transgenic pig kidneys can maintain life-sustaining renal function,” said Jamie E. Locke, lead author of the paper. JAMA Surgical Research.
As of Wednesday, 103,479 people were on waiting lists for organ transplants in the United States, 88,651 of whom wanted kidneys, according to data kept by United Network for Sharing. According to New York University Langone, 26,000 people will receive kidney transplants by 2022.
Many die after waiting years to get a kidney, and others become too ill to receive a transplant. Some people don’t get on the waiting list. About 808,000 Americans live with end-stage kidney disease. According to the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 69% of them are on dialysis and the rest are on transplants.
A key advance in both studies is the kidney’s ability to concentrate urine and remove creatinine, which is a byproduct of muscle function and is toxic when it accumulates in the human body, Rock said. She said her experiment at the University of Alabama could have lasted longer, but ended in honor of her deceased family.
Researchers “are now at a stage where there is a tremendous amount of information available from non-human primates,” said Robert Montgomery, director of the Langone Transplantation Institute at New York University. For the first time, the study raises the question of how “translatable” that information is to humans, he said.
The New York University of Langone transplant required only one genetic modification in specially bred pigs from which kidneys were harvested to remove a protein that the human immune system attacks immediately after surgery. Surgeons also transplanted pig thymus, which helps train the immune system, stitched under the kidney’s outer lining, and used immunosuppressants to prevent subsequent rejection.
The long-term management of a brain-dead man whose heart is still beating and who is breathing on a ventilator also requires a great deal of effort by emergency personnel. But the study revealed information about the long-term use of animal organs, doctors said.
The researchers plan to follow the patient for another month.
The patient was identified as 57-year-old Maurice “Moe” Miller, who died of a brain tumor. His sister said at a press conference Wednesday morning that his brother would have appreciated his contribution to transplant science.