No medical procedure is perfect, and when it comes to organ transplants, perfection is still far on the horizon. Our bodies are designed to be efficient and productive, yet consistently challenged and changing. In the case of organ transplants from donor to recipient, problems are almost always sure to arise. Hyperacute, acute, and chronic graft rejections are defined as the three possible negative outcomes of the transplant of a human organ. A disease defined as graft-versus-host-disease characterizes other problematic situations arising from human transplantation. Human transplantation is far from perfect, and the ever-increasing research behind xenotransplantation is starting to give hope to a more efficient and readily available option. Inside of every human being’s bones is a crucial substance for survival known as bone marrow. In the bone marrow, many different processes take place every second of everyday to help provide the body with necessary mature and efficient cells and molecules for staying healthy. Also inside of bone marrow are cells known as hematopoietic stem cells or HSC’s. These HSC’s hold genetic traits used to form many substances in the body. When these HSC’s are defective, major problems will arise in the person. Today, we are able to transplant these HSC’s into the recipient, replacing their defective stem cells with healthy donor cells. This process is applicable after the recipient has first gone through rigorous chemotherapy and irradiation of the defective HSC’s. GVHD is a major complication of HSC transplantation, in which the mature T-cells of the donor recognize the recipients tissue as foreign (1). This recognition can lead to serious complications including liver disease. As in graft rejections, MHC mismatching causes problematic results for the recipient. Because this is so common, immunosuppressant’s are always used in the case of HSC transplants to avoid further complications for the Specifically, parasitic worms have been discussed and utilized to assist people with autoimmune diseases. If a worm can suppress the immune system enough to allow for the body to stop attacking itself and accept the microbiota within it, why cant a worm also be used to suppress the immune system into accepting a newly transplanted organ? The worms work to initiate nonspecific inflammation response, called the Th1 patter, which in return increases the specific attack response of the T-cells within the body (6). As we know, immunosuppressive drugs work in a similar fashion to basically trick the immune system into slowing down. Options are limitless here, and the probability of securing a new form of immunosuppression in our lifetime is very
Many ailments can be cured or at least ameliorated by the replacement of an organ and the progression of medical science has increasingly allowed more types of organs to be successfully transplanted. Doctors’ ability to transplant is thwarted, however, by the disproportionate number of patients in need of such life-saving treatment relative to the number of donor organs available. Due to a variety of circumstances there just aren’t enough spare organs to go around. In light of this situation and the ever increasing number of people who die every year while waiting for an organ donor, xenotransplantation has become a very attractive alternative to human transplants, for obvious reasons. While there may be a shortage of human organ donors, we can easily envision animals being bred for their organs and providing an almost unlimited supply.
The medical procedure of Xenotransplantation, (transplanting animal organs into humans) has been happening for many years, this medical practice was proceeding mixed results and mixed views regarding the procedure. In the year 1984, a baby girl whom was named Baby Fae by medical staff, became known world wide for the medical procedure she endured. Baby Fae had a potentially fatal heart problem, she was suffering from Hypoplastic left heart syndrome which is a fatal disease if not treated by surgery, (Time Magazine, 1984). The only way to save her was to replace her failing heart with a healthy seven month old baboon heart. The medical professionals that were working on Baby Fae were excited to be able to perform this Xenotransplantation on the infant. After the procedure Baby Fae was acting like any normal healthy infant would. But unfortunately, the replacement heart surgery wasn’t a true success story as the medical staff had hoped. Baby Fae died 20 days after her surgery because her tiny body rejected the baboons heart, which then went on to cause other fatal damage such as kidney...
Dogs infected with Canine Heartworm Disease can have from 1 to 250 worms living in them for 5 to 7 years. The organs us...
In the world we’re living in today, many kinds of diseases, infections, and viruses are continuously arising. At the same time, scientists are untiringly researching about how we can prevent or cure them. Unfortunately, millions of people have been affected and sick that some of their organs fail that results to the need of organ replacement. Many people have died because no organs have been available to provide the need of organ replacements. The shortage of organ replacement has been a bioethical issue since then and it seems like no solution has been available. However, due to the studies scientists have been conducting, they found the most possible answer to this issue – Xenotransplantation. It hasn’t become very popular all over the
In America, there are currently 122,198 candidates on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) waiting list (“OPTN”). Due to a lack of available organ donors, around 18 waiting list candidates will die every day (“OPTN”). This has prompted the development and investigation of xenotransplantation—the transplantation of animal tissue and organs to potential human candidates. Currently in its early phases of development and study, xenotransplantation is controversial for its high failure rate, with only a few cases successful. This is attributed to the human immune system rejecting those animal donated organs, thereby potentially causing immediate death to the human candidate. On the one hand, pre-clinical trials have broadened the understanding of the human immune system, as well as furthered xenotransplantation research. However, because xenotransplantation has achieved little success, opponents of the procedure argue that it is unethical to continue its practice. It is also important to note that trials often use baboons in place of humans, which presents several variables to be examined before further human trials can begin. Moreover, the potential acquisition of zoonotic infection is a serious risk that cannot be fully determined without the use of human subjects. Thus, not only will xenotransplantation require more extensive study, it will also require hundreds of animal lives, all in an effort to create nothing more than a last resort.
Organ transplantation is the process of surgically transferring a patient with end-stage organ failure to a healthy, compliant organ. This can be done when a patient’s organ has ceased working, or when the organ does not meet its opportune function. In the article Organ Transplantation: The Process, the author claims that end-stage organ failure can be the product of cardiomyopathy, cirrhosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, cystic fibrosis, hepatitis, diabetes, hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary disease, and short gut syndrome.. Multiple organs can be transplanted at one time. In order for a patient to get a transplant, the patient as well as the donor, have to go through a series of tests.
Unanticipated harm should not be brought to donors, patients or anyone else that may be involved in the process of transplants. There should not be any intentional or malicious harm. If a patient has been placed in harm unknowingly or knowingly during transplantation, then this principle has been violated. Childress (2001), states that it is hard to define the nature of harm, for there are several types of harm. For example, if a healthcare provider does a transplant and the pain that is inflicted on that patient in the attempt to prevent death, then that healthcare provider has caused harm to avoid an even greater harm (p.4).
Currently 70,000 Americans are on the organ waiting list and fewer than 20,000 of these people can hope to have their lives saved by human organ transplantation.1 As a result of this shortage, there has been a tremendous demand for research in alternative methods of organ transplantation. Private companies are racing to develop these technologies with an estimated market of six billion dollars.2 Xenotransplantation, or cross-species organ transplantation, appears to be the most likely solution in the near future, and cloned pigs are the main candidates. Pigs and humans have remarkable similarities in physiology, which along with cloning makes pigs strong possibilities for organ donors. A controversial alternative method involves the use of genetically altered headless human beings as organ donors. Although this method may not be developed for some years, scientists are already discussing the necessary technologies. Whether the solution is the cloning of a pig or a human, organ farms may provide us with a solution to our ever-increasing need for donors.
Once your dog is infected with the parasitic worm the mosquito bites the next dog and the cycle continues. (Administration, Animal and Veterinary)
Ethical issues also play a role in the selection of the solutions. Most patients perceive xenotransplantation as an acceptable alternative to transplantation of human organs in life-threatening situations provided the potential benefits outweigh any likely adverse effects on the animals. Xenotransplantation of organs from chimpanzees and baboons has been avoided, because of ethical concerns as chimpanzees are listed as endangered species and the fear of transmission of deadly viruses. Pigs are plentiful, quick to mature, breed well in captivity, have large litters, and have vital organs roughly comparable in size to those of humans. Further there are physiologic similarities between their antibodies to human antibodies, and also since they are already being used in the consumer market, organs have been mainly harvested from pigs. Humans have had prolonged and close contact with pigs, their use for the purpose of xenotransplantation is believed to be less likely to introduce any new infectious agents. Porcine islet cells of Langerhans have been injected into patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Porcine skin has been grafted onto burn patients, and pig neuronal cells have been transplanted into patients with Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
Each and every day there are as many as 79 people receiving organ donations that will change their life, but on the other hand there are many people who die from failed organs while they are waiting for transplants that never happen for them (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). People find out that one, or even several of their organs are failing and they are put on a list to receive a transplant with no intended time frame or guarantee. Organ transplants are an essential tool when it comes to saving someone’s life from a failing organ; the history of organ transplants, organ donation, and the preceding factors of organ failure all play a very important role in organ transplant in the United States.
Organ Transplants: A Brief History (21 February, 2012) Retrieved from History in the Headlines Website: http://www.history.com/news/organ-transplants-a-brief-history
...matopoietic compartment using integrating vectors particularly need to understand genotoxicity risks in relation to the risks of conventional bone marrow transplantation. A QPL could direct them to ask questions about risk, benefits and survival rates following transplantation at local centres; the prognosis of patients in the different haematopoietic gene therapy trials; the number and status of patients that developed leukaemia in the SCID-X1 gene therapy trials; and whether there are any differences between the proposed vector and the vector used in the SCID-X1 trial and any possible safety developments. This kind of guidance may help patients understand both what is known and unknown about specific applications of gene therapy.
Adaptive immune system happens much quicker to the presence of an “infection creating potent mechanisms for neutralizing or eliminating the microbes. There are two types of adaptive immune responses: humeral immunity, mediated by antibodies produced by B lymphocytes, and cell-mediated immunity, mediated by T lymphocytes.”
The first successful case of stem cell therapy in human was reported in 1959. Bone marrow restorations were observed in leukemia patients who received total body irradiation subsequent by intravenous injection of their twins’ bone marrow (Thomas et al, 1957). Nevertheless, that effect was transient and the following bone marrow transplantation attempts in non-twin patients and donors can eventually lead to patient’s death from graft-versus-host disease (Mathé et al, 1965). During that time, the safety of hematopoietic cells transplantation was not guaranteed because of the limited knowledge in human histocompatibility and immunosuppression. However, the turning point came after the discovery of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) groups (Dausset, 1958; van Rood et al, 1958), HLA typing and compatibility testing were performed prior to the transplantation. In addition, the improvement of immunosuppressive protocol also helps bringing the bone marrow transplantation to become more and more successful (Donnall and Hutchinson, 1999).