University of Minnesota researchers are reporting a breakthrough in what has long been viewed as a holy grail in the field of organ transplantation — success without the permanent need for immunosuppressive drugs.
Their technique could greatly increase the number and safety of organ transplants because the anti-rejection drugs required today can have harmful long-term side effects.
While their experimental transplants only involved monkeys, university researchers said the next logical step is to show that the technique could work in people.
"If we could show that, we could change the practice of transplantation across the world," said Dr. Bernhard Hering, a U diabetes researcher who led the study.
Immunosuppressive drugs have been essential because they prevent recipients' immune systems from rejecting the foreign organs or cells that are transplanted into their bodies. But their effectiveness tends to wear out, meaning that patients must eventually undergo second or third transplants with new donor organs.
In addition daily, long-term use of the anti-rejection medications can take a toll that includes hypertension, cancer risks, fatigue and extreme susceptibility to infections.
"You really are suppressing one of the key systems in your body," Hering said. "Yes, you do it for the purpose of preventing transplant rejection, but you do it and then you have to hold your breath."
The U researchers performed five transplants of islets, clusters of cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Each monkey received infusions of stem cells before and after transplants to persuade their immune systems to accept the donor islets.
