University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have now transplanted three genetically modified pig kidneys into brain dead men and on Thursday published research about the best way to keep the immune system from attacking the organs.
The latest paper builds on knowledge gained from transplants in 2022 and 2023. UAB doctors did the first transplant in early 2022 and the next two in 2023. The families of the men gave consent for the transplants. Xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs for human transplants, has been gaining momentum as researchers across the country use advances in gene editing to create kidneys, livers and hearts that resist rejection.
Still, the technology has not yet been approved for human trials. The only transplants that have occurred have happened in brain dead patients or on an emergency basis. Dr. Jayme Locke, director of UAB’s Division of Transplantation, said researchers are learning more with each transplant.
“I think xeno is here to stay,” Locke said. “It has the opportunity to not just mitigate but actually solve the organ shortage crisis.”
Locke said many patients with kidney disease die while waiting for donor organs. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a study, doctors at UAB will be able to offer genetically modified organs to some patients who might not have other options.
The research paper that appeared Thursday in the Journal of Clinical Investigation may help build the case for the FDA to approve a trial, Locke said. It showed that the drugs already used to suppress the immune system in traditional organ transplants will also work with pig kidneys. Those drugs have already been approved by the FDA.
Locke said she is hopeful the FDA might approve a clinical trial this year. The research has been funded by a grant from United Therapeutics Corporation. UAB researchers are using a pig kidney developed by a subsidiary of that company. The kidneys have been genetically modified to reduce factors that might cause rejection.
Locke said she is hopeful for the potential of xenotransplantation.
“For our patients, if they don’t have a living donor, they are more likely to die than to receive a transplant,” Locke said. “We are really anxious to have the opportunity to offer this to our patients.”
