Pig Organ Transplants and Its Future; What to Expect?

The University of Maryland reported this year that faculty researchers and clinicians conducted the first successful pig heart transplant into a human adult with heart disease at the end stage.

Historic Xenotransplantation Surgery: Pig as an Organ Donor

In this historic surgery, the patient, who was 57 years old and battling a terminal heart condition, underwent a successful transplant surgery involving a pig heart that was genetically modified. The University of Maryland notes how this was the patient's only viable option. According to Wired, the patient was too sick to handle the usual transplants.

The team from Maryland had been studying xenotransplantation, or transplantation across species, for several years and went through the experiment as the last life-saving resort.

Wired reports that the surgery went well. Surgeon Bartley Griffith expresses how they locked the heart inside and proceeded with what they were armed to do. When they did the incision, they proceeded with the surgery the same way they would in other cases.

However, xenotransplantation in itself comes with risks. For one, there is a chance of getting infected with animal viruses. The body may also reject the organ due to incompatibility issues.

Nevertheless, due to various genetic modifications, the pig heart didn't get outright rejected by the human system.

Though the University of Maryland reported that the patient fared well shortly after the surgery, the patient reportedly died just 60 days after the operation, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Pig Organ Transplant Milestones

Even if the patient died eventually, scientists still consider the transplant a successful surgery. According to surgery professor Richar Pierson, this experiment showed how a pig heart could facilitate human life for a minimum of six weeks.

While this pig organ transplant was a remarkable case, it was not the only milestone in 2022. A couple of weeks after the surgery, a research team from the University of Alabama reported a successful surgery wherein pig kidneys that were genetically modified got transplanted into a brain-dead person. In the course of the study, worth 77 hours, the organs worked well.

Aside from this, last July, surgeons from NYU successfully transplanted two genetically modified pig hearts into the bodies of two deceased individuals. They were able to maintain a heartbeat for up to three days.

The Future of Pig Organ Transplants and Xenotransplantation

Pierson notes how such findings and experiments are significant turning points. Moreover, more transplants are set to take place. Wired notes how the Alabama and Maryland teams hope to deploy human clinical trials within the next two years.

Researchers think that the genetically modified organs of pigs could help cater to the shortage of organs for transplants. Transplant surgeon and Alabama researcher Douglas Anderson note how xenotransplantation provides a chance to meet the great need, as there is insufficient supply from the living and the deceased.

However, there is still more work to be done in xenotransplantation. For one, it may need FDA permits later on. Nevertheless, if the teams can show how pig organs may reliably work in primates that aren't human, this may pave the way for human clinical trials.

Check out more news and information on Medicine and Health in Science Times.