The fundamental ethical question of whether pig organs should be transplanted into humans has been settled, as recent surgeries demonstrating proof of concept demonstrate. Other issues need to be considered and reconciled before xenotransplantation of pig kidneys becomes a solution to the organ shortage for people waiting for a kidney transplant or as a viable alternative to the deceased donor or living donor human kidneys. Human trials will be needed beyond brain-dead individuals to show that xenotransplantation is safe from immunologic and infectious standpoints. Transplant centers will need to show that xenotransplantation provides a long-term benefit to recipients and is financially viable. If trials are successful and receive regulatory approval, pig xenotransplants may become another option for people waiting for a kidney. Before patients are discharged with a functioning xenograft, practical issues with ethical implications remain.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfac125 | DOI Listing |
Carbohydr Polym
March 2025
Glycomics and Glycan Bioengineering Research Center (GGBRC), College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China. Electronic address:
The major hurdle of xenotransplantation is the immune response triggered by human natural antibodies interacting with carbohydrate antigens on the transplanted animal organ. Specifically, terminal glycoprotein motifs such as galactose-α1,3-galactose (α-Gal) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) are significant obstacles. Little is known about the abundance and compositions of asparagine-linked complex carbohydrates (N-glycans) carrying these motifs in mammalian organs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucl Med Commun
February 2025
Department of Radiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute- Antoni van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Background: Small-molecule biomacromolecules target tumor-specific antigens. They are employed as theranostic agents for imaging and treatment. Intravenous small-molecule radioligands exhibit rapid tumor uptake and excretion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Microbiol
January 2025
College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China. Electronic address:
Ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) enables microvascular imaging at spatial resolutions beyond the acoustic diffraction limit, offering significant clinical potentials. However, ULM performance relies heavily on microbubble (MB) signal sparsity, the number of detected MBs, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), all of which vary in clinical scenarios involving bolus MB injections. These sources of variations underscore the need to optimize MB dosage, data acquisition timing, and imaging settings in order to standardize and optimize ULM of microvasculature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFXenotransplantation (XTx) is an increasingly realistic solution to the organ shortage. Clinical XTx may require off-site procurement in a designated pathogen free (DPF) facility necessitating a period of cold ischemic time during transportation. This study evaluates the impact of different kidney preservation strategies on early graft function in pig-to-baboon XTx in a series of eight cases of pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation performed after five hours of cold ischemic time and compares these results to six cases of pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation performed with minimal ischemic time.
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