U.S. Surgeons Successfully Transplanted A Pig Kidney To A Human Patient And It Works

A small yet promising step has gone closer to a medical breakthrough after a U.S. medical team successfully transplanted a pig organ into a human body and found out that it worked.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, the medical team temporarily attached a pig's organ, specifically its kidney, to a human body and observed how it began working.

The new study is a small step in a 10-year-old quest to someday use organs of animals for "life-saving transplants."

Pigs have been the newest focus of research to address the shortage of organs, although researchers said there are hurdles. For instance, sugar in pig cells considered foreign to the human body causes instantaneous organ rejection.

For this particular study, the kidney was taken from a gene-edited animal, engineered to remove that sugar and prevent an immune system attack.

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(Photo: PPL Therapeutics via BWP Media/Getty Image)
Organs from these pigs can be used for human transplants, the first time, in 2002 this had been possible.

Pig Kidney Attached to Blood Vessels

As specified in the LA Times report, the surgeons attached a pig kidney to a pair of large vessels outside a deceased recipient's body so they could observe them specifically for two days.

As a result, the kidney functioned as it was supposed to, filtering wasted and producing urine. The better news is that it didn't stimulate rejection.

According to Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led the team a month ago at NYU Langone Health, the pig kidney "had absolutely normal function." He added it did not have this abrupt rejection "that we have worried about."

The University of Minnesota Medical School's Dr. Andrew Adams said this study is a "significant step." It will reassure regulators, researchers, and patients that they're moving forward in the right direction.

Animal-to-Human Transplants

The dream in the medical and surgical field of xenotransplantation or animal-to-human transplants goes back to the 17th century with failing attempts to utilize the blood of animals for transfusions. By the 20th century, there were attempts of transplants by surgeons of baboon organs into humans.

The most notable organ recipient was a dying infant named Baby Fae, who was able to survive for 21 days with a heart of a baboon. Without a lasting success and much uproar from the public, researchers turned from primates to pigs, working on their genes to bridge the gaps between the species.

Pigs are more advantageous compared to monkeys and apes. They are produced for human food, and thus, using them for organs doesn't raise too many concerns. Also, these animals have large litters, short periods of gestations, and their organs are comparable to humans. 

Decades of Use of Pig Organs

The heart valves of pigs have also been used successfully in humans for decades. More so, the blood thinner heparin came from these animals' intestines.

Heparin, in general, is described in Drugs.com as a solution used to treat and prevent blood clots resulting from specific medical procedures or conditions.

Essentially, pig skin grafts are used on burns, while Chinese surgeons have been using pig corneas to restore sight.

In the recent study, the surgeons kept the body of a deceased woman on a ventilator following the approval from her family.

A similar VOA report said it was the woman's wish to have her organs donated, although they were not appropriate for the traditional or customary donation. Her family felt there was a probability that some positive results could come from such a gift.

Report about this medical breakthrough is shown on Associated Press' YouTube video below:

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