Pig kidney recipient good after 30 days

Asia's first gene-edited pig kidney transplant patient has maintained stable kidney function for more than 30 days after surgery and has met the criteria for discharge, marking a milestone in China's xenotransplantation research and offering new hope for patients facing organ shortages, the hospital that performed the surgery said on Tuesday.

Doctors at Xijing Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, said the surgery was performed on March 6 by a multidisciplinary team led by Qin Weijun, director of the hospital's urology department, under the guidance of Dou Kefeng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The patient, a 69-year-old woman diagnosed with end-stage renal failure eight years ago, had limited treatment options — dialysis or a kidney transplant. However, due to her high sensitivity to human donor antigens, no compatible human kidney was available, leaving her reliant on dialysis.

As of now, the transplanted kidney is functioning stably, with serum creatinine levels maintained between 66 and 110 micromoles per liter and daily urine output ranging from 1,800 to 2,600 milliliters, the hospital said. The patient's vital signs remain normal, confirming the procedure's initial success.

To address critical challenges in xenotransplantation — immune rejection, coagulation dysfunction and zoonotic infection risks — the medical team implemented a three-pronged strategy: targeted immunosuppression, coagulation regulation and a comprehensive infection control protocol. More than 20 clinical departments collaborated through a joint diagnosis and treatment mechanism, conducting real-time monitoring and adjusting medication regimens dynamically.

Qin said the team established a monitoring system encompassing immune response tracking, virus screening and coagulation parameter analysis to enable timely interventions.

Dou emphasized the study's significance, calling it a "breakthrough" that "validates the clinical feasibility of xenotransplantation for patients with end-stage renal disease, providing crucial theoretical and technical foundations for future applications".

While the patient has met discharge standards, her release date has not been determined due to ongoing management of existing conditions, including high blood pressure and cerebral infarction, the hospital said.

The breakthrough is particularly relevant for China's healthcare system, where about 150,000 new end-stage renal disease patients are diagnosed annually, but fewer than 5 percent receive lifesaving transplants.

The surgery marks the world's fifth such procedure and the first in Asia. It is also another clinical milestone for Xijing Hospital, which performed the world's first successful gene-edited pig-to-brain-dead recipient xenogenetic orthotropic whole liver transplant on Jan 7.

Contact the writers at zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn