Research Finds That Stem Cells Reduce Lung Transplant Rejection Rates
Organ rejection usually occurs when the immune system of the recipient of a transplanted organ treats the transplanted organ as a foreign object and attacks it. At the moment, patients can only reduce the risk of organ rejection by taking immunosuppressants, which alleviate symptoms of rejection but make patients more susceptible to infections.
It is estimated that over one-half of patients who receive donor lungs experience organ rejection. Researchers believe that frequent rejection rates and continuous exposure to bacteria and particulates in the air cause irritation while also stimulating the immune system to attack the donor lungs.
While medical advancements had improved the one-year rate of survival for lung transplant patients to 83% in 2016 from the 45% recorded in 1990, the five-year rate of survival is still at about 50%.
Abba Zubair, a Mayo Clinic physician-researcher, has revealed that he sees a lot of patients experiencing chronic transplant rejection after receiving donor lungs. To find a way around this, Zubair and his team carried out a study using mesenchymal cells to treat lung transplant rejection. Mesenchymal cells are cells that possess the ability to self-renew and modulate immune responses in the body.
For their research, Zubair and his team recruited 13 patients who had received single or double transplants. All of the patients were aged between 36 and 74 and suffered from chronic lung allograft syndrome. This syndrome encompasses states arising from transplant rejection, which include difficulty breathing, transplant failure and, in extreme cases, death.
The researchers then measured the volume of each patient’s breath for more than one year before beginning the treatment using mesenchymal stem cells. They observed that this volume, which is indicative of lung function and capacity, persistently reduced until the day treatment commenced.
During the treatment, the researchers infused the patients with mesenchymal stem cells then tracked their progress for at least a year. They observed that the cells stopped the decline in lung function and noted that after the transfusions, none of the patients recorded a drop in measured breath volume. This is in addition to observing that some patients even recorded improvements in their lung function.
In their report, the researchers also note that all patients tolerated the transfusions well, despite the fact that the stem cells used were obtained from a donor.
Despite these positive findings, it is still not clear how mesenchymal stem cells actually stabilize breathing function in lung transplant patients. The study’s findings were reported in “Stem Cells Translational Medicine.”
Other for-profit enterprises such as Aditxt Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTX) are also exploring ways to modulate how the immune system responds to transplanted organs. As these efforts reach fruition, organ rejection rates could decrease in the future.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Aditxt Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ADTX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
Organ rejection usually occurs when the immune system of the recipient of a transplanted organ treats the transplanted organ as a foreign object and attacks it. At the moment, patients can only reduce the risk of organ rejection by taking immunosuppressants, which alleviate symptoms of rejection but make patients more susceptible to infections.
It is estimated that over one-half of patients who receive donor lungs experience organ rejection. Researchers believe that frequent rejection rates and continuous exposure to bacteria and particulates in the air cause irritation while also stimulating the immune system to attack the donor lungs.
While medical advancements had improved the one-year rate of survival for lung transplant patients to 83% in 2016 from the 45% recorded in 1990, the five-year rate of survival is still at about 50%.
Abba Zubair, a Mayo Clinic physician-researcher, has revealed that he sees a lot of patients experiencing chronic transplant rejection after receiving donor lungs. To find a way around this, Zubair and his team carried out a study using mesenchymal cells to treat lung transplant rejection. Mesenchymal cells are cells that possess the ability to self-renew and modulate immune responses in the body.
For their research, Zubair and his team recruited 13 patients who had received single or double transplants. All of the patients were aged between 36 and 74 and suffered from chronic lung allograft syndrome. This syndrome encompasses states arising from transplant rejection, which include difficulty breathing, transplant failure and, in extreme cases, death.
The researchers then measured the volume of each patient’s breath for more than one year before beginning the treatment using mesenchymal stem cells. They observed that this volume, which is indicative of lung function and capacity, persistently reduced until the day treatment commenced.
During the treatment, the researchers infused the patients with mesenchymal stem cells then tracked their progress for at least a year. They observed that the cells stopped the decline in lung function and noted that after the transfusions, none of the patients recorded a drop in measured breath volume. This is in addition to observing that some patients even recorded improvements in their lung function.
In their report, the researchers also note that all patients tolerated the transfusions well, despite the fact that the stem cells used were obtained from a donor.
Despite these positive findings, it is still not clear how mesenchymal stem cells actually stabilize breathing function in lung transplant patients. The study’s findings were reported in “Stem Cells Translational Medicine.”
Other for-profit enterprises such as Aditxt Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTX) are also exploring ways to modulate how the immune system responds to transplanted organs. As these efforts reach fruition, organ rejection rates could decrease in the future.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Aditxt Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ADTX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
