Doctors say they’ve took out a pig kidney from a woman in Alabama following her residence with the organ for an unprecedented 130 days.
Towana Looney has come back to her home in Gadsden following surgery last week. She is currently receiving dialysis again, a therapy designed for individuals with kidney failure.
Animal-to-human transplants entail using organs or tissue sourced from non-human creatures to address various human health issues. Referred to as xenotransplantation, this experimental method aims to commitment to substantially boosting organ availability , according to researchers.
In the United States, there is a severe lack of donor organs for transplantations, with certain communities experiencing even greater inequities in accessing them. On average, every day around 13 individuals in the US pass away while waiting for organ transplants. The nonprofit also reports that over 28,000 donated organs remain unutilized annually due to systemic inefficiencies within the sector. United Network for Organ Donation .
"Although the result wasn’t what we all hoped for, I believe significant knowledge was gained during my 130-day stint with a pig kidney – and this insight has the potential to assist and motivate numerous individuals as they navigate their path toward conquering kidney disease," stated Looney. statement .
She expressed gratitude to her physicians at New York City’s NYU Langone Health for "allowing me to participate in this amazing study."
Prior to Looney’s transplant, just four other Americans had been given genetically-modified pig organs. Among these recipients, two got heart transplants while the remaining ones received kidney transplants; however, none of these transplants survived for more than two months, with all critically ill patients passing away post-surgery. New Hampshire man The individual who was given a pig kidney in January is faring well.
We opted for the safer choice," said Dr. Robert Montgomery, Looney’s surgeon. "Her condition hasn’t worsened since the xenotransplant, and she would assure you that she feels improved due to the 4.5-month respite from dialysis.
In xenotransplantation, the likelihood of getting infected from an animal organ could potentially be greater compared to receiving one from a human donor. Additionally, there is a higher chance of the body rejecting this foreign tissue. Moreover, it remains uncertain whether transplanted animal kidneys will perform all the functions that human kidneys typically handle, notes the National Kidney Foundation.
Montgomery stated that the cause of the rejection is still under investigation. Looney along with her medical team concurred that it would be wiser to extract the pig kidney rather than attempting to save it.
Montgomery explained that Looney experienced an infection connected to her previous dialysis sessions, and as a result, the immunosuppressive medications preventing organ rejection were reduced somewhat. Simultaneously, her immune system began reviving post-transplant. According to his theory, this dual situation might have harmed the newly transplanted kidney.
Looney had been undergoing dialysis since 2016, and her body was unusually prepared to reject a human kidney. She underwent the transplantation procedure last November.
Montgomery stated that Looney’s expertise provides significant understanding before an impending clinical study begins.
Getting xenotransplants to succeed "will be achieved through consistent small successes rather than trying to make grand leaps each time," he stated.
With input from The Associated Press
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