Pig hosts can repair damaged human lungs

Some 80% of donated lungs have to be discarded because of damage. But after researchers connected rejected lungs to pigs, the lungs recovered and were fit for transplant. The method revived lungs that ex vivo lung perfusion, the normal method of maintaining and repairing lungs outside the body, had failed to fix. “All of a sudden, [the lungs are] attached to a functioning liver, a functioning gut,” says thoracic surgeon Matthew Bacchetta. “We used a fairly standard immunosuppressive regimen and took these rejected lungs and showed that we could actually sustain them and make them better.” Researchers say the effect could work just as well if the lungs were connected to a human — allowing a person in need of a lung transplant to heal the lungs they require, themselves.

STAT | 6 min read Reference: Nature Medicine paper