Pig-to-human kidney transplant in China offers hope to millions in organ crisis

A Chinese medical team has successfully transplanted a gene-engineered pig kidney into a uremic patient, marking a major clinical milestone in cross-species organ transplantation.

The medical team from Xijing Hospital of the Air Force Medical University transplanted a gene-edited pig kidney into a 69-year-old woman with end-stage kidney disease on March 6. After blood flow was restored, the transplanted kidney turned pink and soon began producing urine.

On the sixth day post-operation, the patient was stable with good kidney function, and her 24-hour urine output peaked at 5,468 milliliters. Also, her serum creatinine level, a key biochemical indicator for assessing kidney function, dropped to normal by day 3, indicating initial surgical success, according to the team.

Diagnosed with chronic renal failure eight years ago, the patient couldn't find a suitable kidney donor and had to rely on dialysis three times per week. As her condition progressed, dialysis-related complications emerged.

China has approximately 130 million chronic kidney disease patients, with millions of those in the end-stage renal disease phase continuously increasing each year.

The patient will face challenges like immune rejection, coagulation disorders and pathogen-caused infections in the coming days, according to the team.

At least four live pig-kidney-to-human transplants have been reported to date, all in the United States. The patient who underwent the transplant last November is the longest-surviving recipient of a pig organ so far, while the fourth patient, transplanted in January this year, has survived for over a month.

Last year, Chinese scientists transplanted a gene-modified pig kidney into a macaque, and reported in December to have achieved organ function for more than six months, a benchmark for long-term survival.

The researchers from Xijing Hospital performed the first-ever transplantation of a gene-modified pig liver into a brain-dead patient last April. A month later, a team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University transplanted a gene-modified pig liver into a living human patient with severe liver cancer.

"Xenotransplantation could be a key way to solve the organ shortage problem and offer new hope for many patients," said Dou Kefeng, who led the Xijing hospital team.