FDA OKs trial of pig livers as dialysis-like treatment for liver failure
The new study, which is expected to get underway later this spring, is a twist on the quest for animal-to-human organ transplants. Researchers won't transplant the pig liver but instead will attach it externally to study participants.
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The liver is the only organ that can regenerate, but the question is whether having the pig's liver filter the patient's blood for several days could give it that chance.
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In experiments with four deceased bodies, that 'bridge' attempt showed the pig liver could support some functions of a human liver for two or three days, said Mike Curtis, CEO of Massachusetts-based eGenesis, which genetically modifies pigs so their organs are more humanlike.
The trial will enroll up to 20 patients in intensive-care units who don't qualify a liver transplant, he said. A device made by Britain's OrganOx, currently used to preserve donated human livers, will pump participants' blood through the pig liver.
It's the latest step in attempts to use gene-edited pig organs to save human lives. Pig kidneys from eGenesis and another pig producer, United Therapeutics, are being used in experimental transplants.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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