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The version used in Maryland came from a pig. 10 gene modifications It was developed by Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics.
Follow promising tests of such pig organs in baboonsThree U.S. transplant teams started the first human studies beginning in late 2021. Surgeons at New York University and the University of Alabama each fitted pig kidneys to brain-dead people, but the University of Maryland went a step further when Griffith sewed up a pig heart. On Bennett’s chest at the beginning of January.
Transmitting swine viruses to humans has been a concern – some fear that if a virus adapts to a patient’s body and then spreads to doctors and nurses, xenotransplantation could lead to a pandemic. The anxiety can be serious enough to require lifelong monitoring for patients.
However, Jay Fishman, specialist in transplant infections at Massachusetts General Hospital, says it is not believed that the specific type of virus found in Bennett’s donor heart could infect human cells. Fishman thinks there is “no real risk to humans” of its further spread.
Instead, the problem is that porcine cytomegalovirus is associated with reactions that can harm the organ and the patient, with disastrous consequences. For example, two years ago, German researchers He reported that pig hearts transplanted into baboons only last a few weeks if the virus is present, while organs free of infection can live for more than half a year.
These researchers said they found “surprisingly high” levels of the virus in pig hearts from baboons. They speculate that the virus could spiral out of control, not only because the baboons’ immune systems are suppressed by drugs, but because the pig’s immune system is no longer there to keep the virus under control. “It seems very likely that the same will happen in humans,” they warned at the time.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL SCHOOL
Joachim Denner of the Institute of Virology at the Free University of Berlin, who conducted this study, says that the solution to the problem is more accurate testing. The US team appears to have tested the pig’s nose for the virus, but oftentimes it lurks deeper in the tissues.
“It’s a hidden virus and hard to detect,” Denner says. “But if you test the animal better, it won’t. The virus can be detected and easily removed from pig populations, but unfortunately they did not use a good assay and were unable to detect the virus and that is why. The donor pig became infected and the virus was transmitted by transplant.”
Denner says he still thinks the experiment was “a great success.” For example, in 1967 the first human-to-human heart transplant took just 18 days, and two years later a heart transplant in Germany took just 27 hours.
Denner says Bennett’s death cannot be attributed to the virus alone. “This patient was very, very, very sick. Remember that,” he says. “Maybe the virus contributed, but that wasn’t the only reason.”
cause of death?
Bennett’s cause of death is significant because if his heart fails as a result of immune rejection, researchers may need to go back to the drawing board. Instead, companies like United Therapeutics and eGenesis, or the academics working with them, are expected to initiate clinical trials of pig organs in a year or two.
Bennett was offered a pig heart after Griffith applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for special permission to try an animal organ in a one-time transplant. He was considered a good candidate for this daring venture, as he was on the verge of death from heart failure and was not suitable for a transplant into a scarce human heart due to ignoring medical advice.
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