Succeeded in reviving dead pig cells and organs, possibly useful for human organ transplantation



Research results have been reported that circulating a special cytoprotective fluid in the body of a pig that has passed one hour after death has restored the function of the tissue and succeeded in restarting the lost heartbeat. It is expected that a revolution in organ transplantation may occur with the new technology 'Organ Ex' that revives the organs of dead animals.

Cellular recovery after prolonged warm ischaemia of the whole body | Nature

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05016-1

Yale-developed technology restores cell, organ function in pigs after death | YaleNews
https://news.yale.edu/2022/08/03/yale-developed-technology-restores-cell-organ-function-pigs-after-death

Ground-breaking technology restores dead organs back to life-like state
https://www.inverse.com/science/organ-revival

This time, a research team led by Professor Nenad Sestan of the Yale University School of Medicine succeeded in recovering the organs of dead pigs. In 2019, Sestan and his colleagues developed 'Brain Ex', a technology that restores the brain function of dead pigs.

Researchers succeeded in restoring the brain function of pigs 4 hours after death - GIGAZINE


by Hey Paul Studios

'If we can restore cell function in the brain, which is most susceptible to lack of blood flow, we can restore function to other organs, such as those needed for organ transplantation,' said Sestan and his colleagues, who successfully restored brain function in pigs. However, I wondered if I could do something similar.” So, I developed “Organ Ex,” which is an improvement of Brain Ex that can be applied to the whole body.

Organ Ex consists of an 'extracorporeal pulsatile perfusion system' similar to a heart-lung machine and a 'cytoprotective perfusate' that maintains the health of pig somatic cells and suppresses inflammation. In order to confirm the effect of Organ Ex, the research team treated pigs left for 1 hour after death with Organ Ex and compared them with the conventional life support method, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) .

As a result, it was confirmed that Organ Ex has a better oxygen and blood supply than ECMO, less damage to major organs such as the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and pancreas, and active cell metabolism. . Organs treated with Organ Ex had fewer signs of bleeding and organ swelling than those with ECMO.

The research team was particularly surprised by the recovery of some organ functions, such as the heart, which showed electrical activity and retained the ability to contract. Mr. Sestan said, 'I was surprised by the recovery of blood circulation throughout the body.'


by Global Panorama

Normally, when the heart stops, organs begin to expand, collapsing blood vessels and restricting blood flow, eventually causing serious damage. However, the circulatory system was restored in the pig organs treated with Organ Ex, and recovery of function was also seen at the cellular level. Even when the research team observed the organs resuscitated by Organ Ex under a microscope, it was difficult to distinguish them from healthy organs.

``If this works well, it will have a huge impact on the organ supply in the future and save many lives,'' said co-author Zvonimir Vrselja of the paper, saying that Organ Ex could be used for organ transplantation. I had high hopes that the technology could help.

in Science,   Creature, Posted by log1l_ks