Led by Director of the Division of Transplantation and Director of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, the UAB Xenotransplantation Team’s recent pig-to-human transplant was featured on the cover of the April 2022 issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.
Their article, “First clinical-grade porcine kidney xenotransplant using a human decedent model” details the team’s first clinical-grade transplant of gene-edited pig kidneys into a brain-dead human.
According to UAB News, UAB researchers tested the first human preclinical model for transplanting genetically modified pig kidneys into humans. The study recipient had two genetically modified pig kidneys transplanted in his abdomen after his native kidneys were removed. The organs were procured from a genetically modified pig at a pathogen-free facility.
UAB News also notes that the team of researchers’ next steps will be toward securing an Investigational New Drug Application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and an IRB-approved clinical trial for this specific xenotransplant procedure. For Locke, this would mean more life-saving organ donation options for patients with end-stage disease.
The American Journal of Transplantation has an impact factor of over eight, making it the second highest impact factor in the transplantation category and sixth in surgery. Published monthly, the American Journal of Transplantation provides an essential resource for researchers and clinicians around the world.
Locke says her group was honored for their research to be selected as the cover story for the April 2022 Issue.
“Every member of our team – from our basic and translational scientists to our operating nurses to our study coordinators to our husbandry specialists to our Legacy of Hope colleagues - worked so hard to make this accomplishment happen, and it is wonderful to see it come to life,” said Locke. “The future of xenotransplantation is bright, and we could not be more excited to have UAB driving this groundbreaking work.”