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Cooper DKC, Yamamoto T, Hara H, Pierson RN. The first clinical pig heart transplant: Was IVIg or pig cytomegalovirus detrimental to the outcome? Xenotransplantation 2022; 29:e12771. [PMID: 35942912 PMCID: PMC10124764 DOI: 10.1111/xen.12771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The clinical course of the first patient to receive a gene-edited pig heart transplant was recently reported by the University of Maryland team. Although the pig heart functioned well for >40 days, serum anti-pig antibodies then increased, and the patient sadly died after 60 days. Because of his debilitated pre-transplant state, the patient never thrived despite excellent graft function for several weeks, and the cause of his demise continues to be uncertain. A few days before an increase in anti-pig antibodies was observed, the patient had received intravenous human immunoglobulin (IVIg), and whether this played a role in his cardiac deterioration has been discussed. Furthermore, mcfDNA testing indicated an increase in pig cytomegalovirus (CMV), and its possible role in the development of cardiac dysfunction has also been considered. On the basis of the limited data provided in the publication and on our previous investigations into whether IVIg contains anti-TKO pig antibodies and therefore might be deleterious to TKO pig organ xenografts, we suggest that the steady rise in anti-pig antibody titer was more consistent with the failure of the immunosuppressive regimen to prevent elicited anti-TKO pig antibody production, rather than from the passive transfusion of IVIg or the presence of pig CMV in the graft. Although the outcome of the Maryland experience was disappointing, valuable lessons were learned. Our attention was drawn to the potential risks of heart transplantation in a "deconditioned" patient, the administration of IVIg, the transmission of pig CMV, and of the difficulties in interpreting myocardial biopsy findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- David K. C. Cooper
- Center for Transplantation Sciences, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Takayuki Yamamoto
- Center for Transplantation Sciences, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Hidetaka Hara
- Yunnan Xenotransplantation Engineering Research Center, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Richard N. Pierson
- Center for Transplantation Sciences, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Egerer S, Fiebig U, Kessler B, Zakhartchenko V, Kurome M, Reichart B, Kupatt C, Klymiuk N, Wolf E, Denner J, Bähr A. Early weaning completely eliminates porcine cytomegalovirus from a newly established pig donor facility for xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation 2019; 25:e12449. [PMID: 30264883 DOI: 10.1111/xen.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
For clinical xenotransplantation, transplants must be free of porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV). Piglets become infected primarily in the perinatal period by the mother sow. While individual donor animals can be protected from infection by isolation husbandry, success is not guaranteed and this strategy poses the risk of undetected infections and raises animal welfare questions. Here, we present the establishment of a completely PCMV-negative pig herd for breeding donor animals for xenotransplantation. Eleven pregnant DanAvl Basic hybrid sows were purchased from a designated pathogen-free (DPF), PCMV-positive colony and transferred to a new pig facility at the Centre for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM) 4 weeks prior to farrowing. At the age of 24 hours, piglets were early-weaned and transferred to a commercially available Rescue Deck system dedicated to motherless rearing of piglets. Sows were removed from the facility. The PCMV status of F1-generation animals was determined at regular intervals over a period of 14 months by a sensitive real-time PCR-based detection method testing blood, nasal swabs and cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). F1 sows were used as recipients of genetically modified embryos to generate a xenotransplant donor herd. Offspring were tested for PCMV accordingly. All offspring have remained PCMV negative over the whole observation period of 14 months. A completely PCMV-negative pig herd for xenotransplantation has thus been successfully established.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Egerer
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Barbara Kessler
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Valeri Zakhartchenko
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Mayuko Kurome
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Bruno Reichart
- Transregional Collaborative Research Center 127, Walter Brendel Centre of Experimental Medicine, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Kupatt
- Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Innere Medizin I, TU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Nikolai Klymiuk
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Eckhard Wolf
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Andrea Bähr
- Center for Innovative Medical Models (CiMM), Institute for Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.,Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Innere Medizin I, TU Munich, Munich, Germany
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Cooper DKC, Ezzelarab MB, Hara H, Iwase H, Lee W, Wijkstrom M, Bottino R. The pathobiology of pig-to-primate xenotransplantation: a historical review. Xenotransplantation 2016; 23:83-105. [PMID: 26813438 DOI: 10.1111/xen.12219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2015] [Accepted: 12/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The immunologic barriers to successful xenotransplantation are related to the presence of natural anti-pig antibodies in humans and non-human primates that bind to antigens expressed on the transplanted pig organ (the most important of which is galactose-α1,3-galactose [Gal]), and activate the complement cascade, which results in rapid destruction of the graft, a process known as hyperacute rejection. High levels of elicited anti-pig IgG may develop if the adaptive immune response is not prevented by adequate immunosuppressive therapy, resulting in activation and injury of the vascular endothelium. The transplantation of organs and cells from pigs that do not express the important Gal antigen (α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knockout [GTKO] pigs) and express one or more human complement-regulatory proteins (hCRP, e.g., CD46, CD55), when combined with an effective costimulation blockade-based immunosuppressive regimen, prevents early antibody-mediated and cellular rejection. However, low levels of anti-non-Gal antibody and innate immune cells and/or platelets may initiate the development of a thrombotic microangiopathy in the graft that may be associated with a consumptive coagulopathy in the recipient. This pathogenic process is accentuated by the dysregulation of the coagulation-anticoagulation systems between pigs and primates. The expression in GTKO/hCRP pigs of a human coagulation-regulatory protein, for example, thrombomodulin, is increasingly being associated with prolonged pig graft survival in non-human primates. Initial clinical trials of islet and corneal xenotransplantation are already underway, and trials of pig kidney or heart transplantation are anticipated within the next few years.
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Affiliation(s)
- David K C Cooper
- The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Mohamed B Ezzelarab
- The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Hidetaka Hara
- The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Hayato Iwase
- The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Whayoung Lee
- The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Martin Wijkstrom
- The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Rita Bottino
- Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Cooper DK, Bottino R, Satyananda V, Wijkstrom M, Trucco M. Toward clinical islet xenotransplantation - are revisions to the IXA guidelines warranted? Xenotransplantation 2013; 20:68-74. [DOI: 10.1111/xen.12015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David K.C. Cooper
- Department of Surgery; Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute; Pittsburgh; PA; USA
| | | | - Vikas Satyananda
- Department of Surgery; Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute; Pittsburgh; PA; USA
| | - Martin Wijkstrom
- Department of Surgery; Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute; Pittsburgh; PA; USA
| | - Massimo Trucco
- Division of Immunogenetics; Department of Pediatrics; Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Pittsburgh; PA; USA
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW As clinical trials are in progress involving porcine islet cell transplantation, microbial safety remains a key issue. Therefore, in the context of pig-to-human xenotransplantation, we provide an overview of the recent progress in the studies of relevant viruses including well known problematic viruses, such as herpesviruses and porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) in addition to some emerging issues regarding other pathogens. RECENT FINDINGS The ability of herpesvirus to infect across species barriers is probably underestimated and requires monitoring and control of both xenograft donors and recipients for latent infection. Exclusion from donors and recipient monitoring for other exogenous pathogens including newly identified Parvovirus-4 are warranted. The availability of the swine whole genome sequence may help to characterize and select donor animals with less PERV infectivity. Rigorous PERV monitoring in both clinical and preclinical xenotransplantation experiments must be included in clinical protocols. SUMMARY A wide range of pathogens, both viruses and bacteria, pose potential safety problems in xenotransplantation, highlighting the importance of prescreening of the donor animals, and careful monitoring and follow-up of the patients.
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Schneider MKJ, Seebach JD. Xenotransplantation literature update: November 2009-January 2010. Xenotransplantation 2010; 17:166-70. [PMID: 20522250 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-3089.2010.00585.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mårten K J Schneider
- Laboratory for Transplantation Immunology, Division of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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