【Medical Companion Travel】Successful transplantation of pig heart to the human body is expected to alleviate the shortage of transplanted organs

Recently, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) reported that researchers and surgeons at the University of Maryland School of Medicine successfully transplanted a pig heart into adult patients with end-stage heart disease. The operation lasted 8 hours, which was the world's first successful transplantation of a pig heart into the human body, setting a precedent for xenotransplantation.

The port was successful

After the transplantation was completed, the "new heart" did not immediately cause a rejection response from the body's immune system, and the patient was still in good condition after three days. The research team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine will continue to watch the patient to see if this xenotransplantation (which allows animals to transplant organs for humans) can save his life.

Culture of donors

According to UMMC, the donor pig underwent up to 10 gene edits, knocked out 3 genes that cause human rejection, 1 gene that makes the heart grow, and inserted 6 human genes that promote organ immune acceptance. Such a "finished" pig, its heart is unlikely to cause human rejection.

Case of the receptor

The recipient of the heart transplant was a 57-year-old man named David Bennett, who suffered from end-stage heart disease. David Bennett already needed ECMO (Artificial Heart And Lung) to sustain himself before receiving the transplant, and he did not meet the criteria for a standard heart transplant; he was not suitable for implanting an artificial heart due to ventricular arrhythmias. So this heart transplant is his only survival option at the moment. On December 31, 2021, the transplant received approval from the U.S. FDA for compassionate treatment. Before agreeing to receive a transplant, patients are fully aware of the potential risks and benefits of this experimental procedure.

Status of transplanted organs

At present, the severe shortage of transplanted organs is a global problem. Due to the limited number of donated organs, many patients need to wait in long queues for organs to save their lives. According to statistics, in the United States, there are as many as 110,000 patients waiting for the transplant of suitable organs, and more than 6,000 patients die every year because they cannot wait for organs for too long.

This desperate wait may be coming to an end, because the emergence of xenotransplantation has brought new hope to solve the shortage of transplanted organs. In fact, as early as the 1980s, scientists have begun to try xenotransplantation. Although the results of xenotransplantation have been unsatisfactory for many years, the medical community has never given up, and it can be said that xenotransplantation has been progressing.

Transgenic pig organs have always been a research hotspot in the field of xenotransplantation. This is because there are biological similarities between pigs, humans and non-human primates. In addition, it is obviously more convenient to obtain the organs of pigs than primates: they are easy to feed, mature quickly, and can grow to the size of an adult within six months. Pig heart valves have been used in humans for decades, and pigs are an important source of valves.

However, xenotransplantation also carries corresponding risks, for example, if there is a rejection reaction immediately after transplantation, the patient's life is at risk. In any case, this time the pig heart was successfully transplanted into the human body, and the shortage of transplanted organs is finally expected to be solved!