A new technique that might extend the time in which human lungs are kept “fresh” and operational for transplantation.
In the world of medicine, transplants are today one of the most challenging interventions. Despite the fact that more and more people declare themselves as donors, the window of action from when a person dies until their organs “expire” it is very narrow. We are talking regarding hours, hours of margin for a person who can spend years on a waiting list waiting for a transplant. And faced with this problem, in the era of technological innovation and artificial intelligence, a possible solution has emerged from the combination of two elements that no one would expect to find in an operating room.
Pig’s blood and cobra venom. These two ingredients may be key to extending the life of lungs, giving them more time until they can be transplanted. The experiment and study that explains its results is the work of researchers from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and has recently posted in the scientific journal “Science Advances”. The objective of the study has been to try to devise a way of extend transplant viability of some lungs from the time they are removed until they reach the recipient. The action window is a few hours, and it is estimated that only 25% of donated lungs make it to operating rooms in acceptable operating condition.
The pig acts as a bridge, and the cobra venom is the filter
This new method uses pig’s blood, but instead of using it for a satanic ritual for God knows what purpose, what it achieves is extend the lifespan of the lungs from 6 hours to 24, even more. The researchers used cross circulation techniques to connect the circulatory system of a living pig to the lungs removed from the donor, keeping the organ alive much longer. The animal would act as a bridgekeeping the organs cool until the moment of the operation.
The problem is that, when it comes into contact with pig’s blood, that blood receives a huge amount of antibodies from the animal. Those lungs would be rejected by a human without a doubt. That’s where the second ingredient comes in: cobra venom. The researchers neutralized immunoglobulin from pig blood using the venom of a monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia)which has a non-toxic protein capable of put a stop to porcine antibodies so that they do not “infect” human lung tissue. The venom was able to keep the lungs suitable for transplantation for several hours. These snakes live in Asia (in countries like Thailand, Malaysia or Vietnam) and although they are far from the Danger of extinctionthe IUCN warns that their numbers in the wild are decreasing.
It should be noted that for the moment this experiment has been tested in a controlled laboratory environment, but the results are really encouraging. The combination of these strange elements, more like a macabre potion or a satanic ritual, might save many people’s lives in the future.