Damaged Human Lungs Can Be Repaired by Attaching Them to Pigs, Experiment Shows
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Quoted By: >>11898444 >>11898750 >>11900409 >>11902399
Is this a viable treatment?
(https://www.sciencealert.com/a-damaged-human-lung-has-been-repaired-by-attaching-it-to-a-pig)
>By using a new experimental technique, a damaged lung can now been restored to function - by sharing its circulatory system with that of a living pig. This leverages the body's self-repair mechanisms to exceed the capabilities of current donor lung restoration techniques.
>"It is the provision of intrinsic biological repair mechanisms over long-enough periods of time that enabled us to recover severely damaged lungs that cannot otherwise be saved," say the lead researchers, surgeon Ahmed Hozain and biomedical engineer John O'Neill of Columbia University (https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2020-07/cuso-sdh070820.php).
The underlying principle is similar to an existing donor lung restoration technique called ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), which involves placing a lung in a sterile dome attached to a ventilator, pump, and filters.
In the study, six donor lungs were obtained by the team after being rejected for transplantation. The five lungs in the experiment were attached via a jugular cannula to anaesthetised pigs that had been immunosuppressed, to prevent the pig's immune system from attacking the lungs. The sixth control lung was attached to a pig that was not immunosuppressed.
All of the lungs were subjected to 24 hours of xenogeneic cross-circulation.
After 24 hours sharing blood with a pig, though, the damaged lung started to show signs of repair; not full recovery, but a lot more than had been thought possible. This suggests, the researchers said, that their cross-circulation platform could be used in conjunction with EVLP to help restore lungs that EVLP can't save alone.
>"Modifications to the xenogeneic cross-circulation circuit could enable investigation and recovery of other human organs, including livers, hearts, kidneys and limbs," the researchers wrote in their paper.
(https://www.sciencealert.com/a-damaged-human-lung-has-been-repaired-by-attaching-it-to-a-pig)
>By using a new experimental technique, a damaged lung can now been restored to function - by sharing its circulatory system with that of a living pig. This leverages the body's self-repair mechanisms to exceed the capabilities of current donor lung restoration techniques.
>"It is the provision of intrinsic biological repair mechanisms over long-enough periods of time that enabled us to recover severely damaged lungs that cannot otherwise be saved," say the lead researchers, surgeon Ahmed Hozain and biomedical engineer John O'Neill of Columbia University (https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2020-07/cuso-sdh070820.php).
The underlying principle is similar to an existing donor lung restoration technique called ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), which involves placing a lung in a sterile dome attached to a ventilator, pump, and filters.
In the study, six donor lungs were obtained by the team after being rejected for transplantation. The five lungs in the experiment were attached via a jugular cannula to anaesthetised pigs that had been immunosuppressed, to prevent the pig's immune system from attacking the lungs. The sixth control lung was attached to a pig that was not immunosuppressed.
All of the lungs were subjected to 24 hours of xenogeneic cross-circulation.
After 24 hours sharing blood with a pig, though, the damaged lung started to show signs of repair; not full recovery, but a lot more than had been thought possible. This suggests, the researchers said, that their cross-circulation platform could be used in conjunction with EVLP to help restore lungs that EVLP can't save alone.
>"Modifications to the xenogeneic cross-circulation circuit could enable investigation and recovery of other human organs, including livers, hearts, kidneys and limbs," the researchers wrote in their paper.
