Liver in vivo
Scientists will grow a new liver inside the human body for the first time
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
American scientists from the company LyGenesis have announced the launch of pilot clinical studies on the cultivation of mini-liver in the human body. Experimental treatment will be given to 12 patients with end-stage liver failure. Mini-organs will be grown in lymph nodes with the help of donor cells. At the same time, 4 patients will receive 5 mini-organs at once, which will be grown in 5 different lymph nodes. In the future, this technology is planned to be used for growing the pancreas and other organs.
Donor organs are sorely lacking and patients often die in line for transplantation. Another problem is that the body of some patients is too weakened by the disease, so they are not shown an organ transplant. A revolutionary solution could be the technology developed at LyGenesis, writes MIT Technology Review. Scientists have created an experimental treatment aimed at growing a mini-organ in the patient's body by targeted delivery of donor cells.
This approach has shown excellent results in preclinical studies: grown mini-livers compensated for the function of the damaged organ in mice, pigs and dogs. Now the first stage of clinical trials involving 12 patients with end-stage liver failure who cannot be fully transplanted has been announced.
The new technology can provide treatment to about 75 patients with just one donor organ.
It is noteworthy that even an organ that is no longer suitable for full-fledged transplantation can be used. "Some organs are no longer suitable for human transplantation, but cells can still be used," the authors explain.
Incubator in the human body
For many years, scientists have been testing various cell delivery schemes to determine the most effective and safe strategy for growing a new mini-organ. Numerous experiments have demonstrated that the best environment for cell growth is the lymph nodes, which have the necessary blood supply for the development of new tissue.
The donor cells delivered to the lymph nodes begin to form into miniature organs, and some of them can move directly to the damaged liver for recovery. As a result, this approach provides support for liver function and triggers the regenerative process. It is important to note that the mini-organ will not grow indefinitely — there is an internal regulator in the body that will stop the growth of tissue when it is necessary, scientists explain.
The first volunteers will be delivered cells using an endoscope through the throat. With ultrasound, when the tube reaches the target lymph node, the doctor will inject the cells. First, 50 million cells will be injected, and then the dosages and the area of administration will increase — four out of 12 participants will be injected with 250 million cells into five lymph nodes. "If everything goes well, these four people will receive five mini-organs in addition to their damaged liver," the scientists said.
Growing other organs
The technology is not limited to growing only the liver. Scientists are already testing the possibilities of growing the thymus gland, kidneys and pancreas on the same principle. It is planned to study their effectiveness in clinical trials in case of successful results of the current work on growing mini-liver.
Probably, the results will also be useful as an auxiliary tool in organoid transplantation. Recently , scientists from Japan performed the first such operation on a patient with ulcerative colitis who received organoid transplantation grown from his own skin cells.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru