DAMPs Released From Injured Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells Activate Innate Immune Signals in Healthy Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells.

Background: Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) predictably causes acute kidney injury after shock and major cardiovascular procedures in all kidneys procured for transplantation. The earliest events of IRI are triggered by molecules released from injured cells, damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), that bind pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) constitutively expressed on many cells within the kidney. Activation of PRR signaling leads to production of proinflammatory molecules, which incite a cascade of inflammatory events leading to acute kidney injury.

An Adapted Process and Organ Procurement Perspective on Heart Retransplantation for a Healthy Heart's Third Life.

As organ procurement organizations nationwide see an increased opportunity to retransplant already transplanted hearts, we would like to share the overview and process of our 2 successful cases. Heart retransplantation increased our cardiac placement rates by 2.64% and 2% in 2015 and 2019, respectively.

Pro-Inflammatory Milieu in Human Kidney Perfusates Treated with Hypothermic Pulsatile Machine Perfusion.

Hypothermic Machine Perfusion (HMP) has been shown to decrease Delayed Graft Function (DGF) and improve outcomes of deceased donor kidney transplants. Although the mechanisms of protection afforded by HMP have not yet been defined, this study tested the hypothesis that HMP improves transplant outcomes by clearing pro-inflammatory molecules from the allograft during pumping. Here we report on 26 allografts preserved via pulsatile HMP at our organ procurement organization that were prospectively evaluated for the time-dependent clearance of cytokines, chemokines and injury markers during their time on pump.

Family, friends, and faith: how organ donor families heal.

Context: Understanding how organ donors' families recover from their grief can help organ procurement organizations improve consent rates and increase the number of deceased donor organs available for transplant.

Objective: To determine what helps the loved ones of deceased organ donors heal from their grief and loss, and to better understand families' needs during the consent process as a way of improving overall consent rates for organ donation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Written survey of all organ and tissue donors' families in the San Diego and Imperial County (California) service area during 2006 and 2007.