A research team led by Matthew Powell Palm at Texas A&M University has successfully transplanted pig kidneys that were stored at -4 °C (25 °F) for up to 72 hours. The breakthrough, presented at the American Transplant Congress, utilizes a specialized pressure-controlled device that prevents ice from forming within the tissue, a common cause of damage in previous freezing attempts.
Current clinical standards typically limit kidney storage to approximately 24 hours on ice. By cooling the organs to subzero temperatures without cryoprotectants, the researchers were able to slow the organs' metabolism significantly. In the study, kidneys stored for 24, 48, and 72 hours were transplanted back into pigs. The organs began producing urine shortly after the procedure and showed normal function within 10 days. Long-term monitoring revealed the kidneys remained healthy and continued to grow alongside the animals for up to 200 days.
Kevin Myer, president and CEO of LifeGift, described the development as a "landmark achievement." He noted that extending the storage window to 72 hours could fundamentally improve the organ donation process by providing more time for donor matching and transport, potentially reducing the number of discarded organs. Currently, roughly one in three donated kidneys in the US are discarded due to degradation.
The research team is now looking toward human applications. Because the supercooling process avoids the use of chemical cryoprotectants, the researchers hope to secure an accelerated approval process from the US Food and Drug Administration. Powell Palm and his colleague Sebastian Giwa intend to launch a company to further develop the technology, which has already been successfully transported across the US in a vehicle to test its stability.
Source: MIT Technology Review
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