New record: transplanted baboon heart pigs has been working for more than two years

Technology transplants of various organs, including the heart, saved many hundreds of thousands of lives. But, unfortunately, many more recipients than donors. The first has to wait for the new authorities for months, even years - and because health does not increase with time. The same heart, if its problems can unsubscribe at any time - and then transplant recipient is no longer needed.

And all because the hearts of donors - people. This raises a number of problems of a legal, ethical and medical. Everything can be much easier if the heart have learned to grow. Or, at least, to transplant from animals to humans. To this end, a group of scientists engaged in studying the possibility of transplanting hearts primates pigs. Until the people there, but relatively close to our mind - baboons. The discipline that studies the interspecies transplantation of organs called ksenotransplantologiya (transplants - xenotransplantation)

. Scientists were able to achieve many months of work of the transplanted heart. Just five transplants were carried out five baboons. The average tenure of the transplanted heart - 298 days. Maximum - 945 days, that is much more than two years. The previous record - 180 days on average and a maximum of 500 days. Scientists are gradually improving technology transplants of various animals. I must say that the circulatory system of pigs is quite similar to the circulatory system of primates, including humans. That is why it became possible to transplant pig heart baboon. Of course, it requires different preparations and tricks to heart stuck. But, as we have seen, the period of another organ of life in a new body gradually increases.

Study of the possibility of organ transplantation in primates pigs carried for a long time. In the first papers on the subject xenografts worked a few minutes. The reason - the organ rejection by the host immune system. The blood of the recipient very quickly appeared clots due to the presence in the tissues of pigs marker, alpha-1-3-galacto ziltransferazy. Yes, and not just the token is valid, there are differences between the cell that cause a strong reaction of the recipient's immune system, leading to inaction transplanted organ and the death of the new "owner" of the body.

Since then, thanks to genetic engineering, scientists have been able to bring GM pigs without the marker. In addition, it uses powerful immunnopodaviteli. Scientists question in this material, have gone even further. They were able to bring a new breed genetically modified pigs whose antibody selectively affect certain parts of the immune system of primates, those parts that normally react to swine bodies.

Interestingly, the scientists do not simply transplanted organs of pigs, they have left their own heart primates. The transplanted organ is placed in the stomach with a baboon. The heart connects to the circulatory system of the animal, and continued to beat for many months.

Now scientists are planning to hold a full transplant with the removal of "native" baboon heart and replace it with a pig organ. If you succeed, it may well be that ksenotransplantologiya will be the factor that will reduce the queue of people-donors. Talking about this, of course, still early, but one would hope.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/273922/