Increase donor pool by rejuvenating old organs
It’s very interesting.
Organs from older donors who have died are often discarded or never used, despite the fact that there is a limited supply of organs to be transplanted. Older organs are a great way to reduce the huge gap between supply and demand that causes the long waiting times for organs. The immune response to older organs is often stronger, which can put patients at a greater risk for adverse outcomes or transplant rejection. Organs from deceased older donors are a growing and untapped resource for patients who need them. Brigham and Women’s Hospital investigators are leading efforts to give older organs new life by using a new class drugs called senolytics that target and eliminate old cell. The team uses clinical and experimental studies to present evidence that senolytics may rejuvenate older tissues, leading to improved outcomes and an expanded pool of organs available for donation. The results are published in Nature Communications.
Stefan G. Tullius MD, Ph.D. chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham, said that older organs were available and could help reduce the demand for organ transplantation. If we can use older organs safely with comparable outcomes, we’ll be able to help patients in a big way.
Senescent cells build up as organs age. These cells no longer divide and escape the body’s normal means of destroying old, unwanted cells. Senescent cells produce mitochondrial DNA that is not cellular. This DNA accumulates also in old organs. Recent studies suggest that the rise in mt DNA is linked to organ rejection.
Source:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-rejuvenating-donor-pool.html
