{"id":41086,"date":"2025-04-16T04:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T09:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=41086"},"modified":"2025-04-16T04:52:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T09:52:03","slug":"fda-oks-trial-of-pig-livers-as-dialysis-like-treatment-for-liver-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=41086","title":{"rendered":"FDA OKs trial of pig livers as dialysis-like treatment for liver failure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. researchers will soon test whether livers from a gene-edited pig<\/a> could treat people with sudden liver failure \u2014 by temporarily filtering their blood so their own organ can rest and maybe heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first-of-its-kind clinical trial has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, according to pig producer eGenesis<\/a>, which announced the step Tuesday with its partner OrganOx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An estimated 35,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized each year when their liver suddenly fails. There are few treatment options and death rates as high as 50%. Many don\u2019t qualify for a liver transplant or can\u2019t get a match in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new study, which is expected to get underway later this spring, is a twist on the quest for animal-to-human organ transplants<\/a>. Researchers won\u2019t transplant the pig liver but instead will attach it externally to study participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The liver is the only organ that can regenerate, but the question is whether having the pig\u2019s liver filter the patient\u2019s blood for several days could give it that chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In experiments with four deceased bodies, that \u201cbridge\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial will enroll up to 20 patients in intensive-care units who don\u2019t qualify a liver transplant, he said. A device made by Britain\u2019s OrganOx, currently used to preserve donated human livers, will pump participants\u2019 blood through the pig liver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the latest step in attempts to use gene-edited pig organs<\/a> to save human lives. Pig kidneys from eGenesis and another pig producer, United Therapeutics, are being used in experimental transplants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. researchers will soon test whether livers from a gene-edited pig could treat people with sudden liver failure \u2014 by temporarily filtering their blood so their own organ can rest and maybe heal. The first-of-its-kind clinical trial has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, according to pig producer eGenesis, which announced the step Tuesday with its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":41087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1152],"tags":[3043,32989,27197,32990,31720],"class_list":["post-41086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanrights","tag-fda","tag-gene-editing","tag-liver","tag-liver-failure","tag-pigs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41088,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41086\/revisions\/41088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}