A kidney transplant from animal to human

The news of the first human xenograft performed in the US marks a step forward in medicine, but there is still a long way to go. The media reported that at New York University – Langone Health, doctors used an animal kidney, an organ engineered to eliminate a molecule in the tissues.

The news of the first human xenograft performed in the US marks a step forward in medicine, but there is still a long way to go. The media reported that doctors at New York University – Langone Health used an animal kidney, an organ engineered to eliminate a molecule in the tissues that would cause almost immediate rejection.

The trial was performed on a brain-dead woman who was artificially kept alive for another three days.

after the operation (performed with the consent of her family) before disconnecting the machines. This opens up an unprecedented line of investigation for end-stage nephropathic patients on dialysis. In the United States, over 90,000 people are waiting for a donor kidney (the average time in this last case ranges from three to five years).

“The news of the first genetically modified kidney transplant, in humans, with no signs of hyperacute rejection, is certainly relevant. Worldwide, the availability of organs for transplantation is largely insufficient to meet the demand, ”wrote Massimo Cardillo, director of the National Transplant Center CNT. It should be reiterated that these frontier searches, although very important, are not suitable for patients on the waiting list, for whom the only possible solution is to receive a human donation.

“Many problems – Cardell observes – still have to be solved to ensure the safety of transplants from other species and to be sure that the organ (in this case it was a pig, ed) is tolerated by the organism that receives it, for longer times. within three days of the case in question, or to avoid the risk of transmission of unknown viruses from animals to humans. Instead, what we can do immediately is to inform citizens on how to donate organs after death, or in life for a sick family member or acquaintance “.

Today it is possible to express one’s will to donate at the municipal registry offices, upon issuing or renewing the electronic identity card. But it is possible, even online in a few minutes, to register in the donor register through the  Association of Organ Donors on the AIDO website.

“The experimentation conducted in the United States is part of a trend well known to the scientific  insurance community”, declared Pier Giorgio Messa, president of the Society of Nephrology (SIN RENI), a scientific association that dedicated ample space to this topic during the last congress. There are over 6,000 people on the waiting list for kidney transplants, while the available kidneys are around 2,000 every year: therefore more than 4,000 kidneys are missing in  alone. How to make up for the chronic shortage of organs? “It would be very important to spread the culture of living transplantation, which today represents only 10% of donations”, added Professor Messa, full professor of Nephrology at the University of Milan.

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