Researchers in USA Soon they will prove if the livers of a genetically modified pig could treat people with sudden liver failure, temporarily filtering their blood so that their own organ can rest and perhaps heal.
The first clinical trial of this type has been approved by the Food and medication managementaccording to the producer of pigs and genesis, who announced the step on Tuesday along with his partner Organox.
It is estimated that 35,000 people in the United States are hospitalized every year when their liver suddenly fails. There are few treatment options and mortality rates of up to 50%. Many do not qualify for a liver transplant or cannot obtain a compatible donor in time.
The new study, planned to begin this spring, is a variation in the search for animal to humans organs. The researchers will not transplant the pork liver, but will connect it externally to the study participants.
The liver is the only organ that can regenerate, but the question is whether to have the pig’s liver filtering the patient’s blood for several days could give it that opportunity.
In experiments with four deceased bodies, That “bridge” attempt showed that the pork liver could support some functions of a human liver for two or three dayssaid Mike Curtis, CEO of Engenesis, based in Massachusetts, which genetically modifies pigs so that their organs are more similar to humans.
The essay will register up to 20 patients in intensive care units that do not qualify for a liver transplanthe said. A device manufactured by the British Organox, currently used to preserve donated human livers, will pump the blood of the participants through the pork liver.
It is the last step in attempts to use genetically modified pork organs to save human lives. Pork kidneys and another pig producer, United Therapeutics, are being used in experimental transplants.