2020/11/18
Keio University School of Medicine
Tokai University School of Medicine
Shiga University of Medical Science, School of Medicine
Ina Research Inc.
A research group led by Project Assistant Professor Iori Kisu, Associate Professor Koji Sakano, and Professor Daisuke Aoki of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine; Associate Professor Hideaki Obara of the Department of Surgery (General and Gastroenterological) at the same university; Professor Takashi Shiina of the Department of Molecular Life Science, Basic Medical Science, Tokai University School of Medicine; Professor Yasushi Ito of the Department of Disease Control and Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science; Dr. Hideaki Tsuchiya of the Center for Animal Life Science at the same university; and Kenji Nakagawa, President and CEO of Ina Research Inc., has performed uterine transplantation in cynomolgus monkeys, achieving the world's first successful birth after uterine transplantation in a non-human primate.
In Japan, there are approximately 60,000 women in their 20s and 30s with uterine factor infertility, who were either born without a uterus or lost it for some reason. It was impossible for these women to become pregnant and give birth themselves, but around the year 2000, research into uterine transplantation began with the aim of enabling pregnancy and childbirth through transplantation. Although successful births after uterine transplantation had been reported in animals such as rats and sheep, there had been no reports of successful births after uterine transplantation in non-human primates, which are anatomically and physiologically similar to humans.
In this study, the research group used cynomolgus monkeys with controlled MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) to create an animal experiment model simulating uterine transplantation between a mother and daughter. They subsequently succeeded in achieving the world's first pregnancy and birth from a uterine transplant in a non-human primate.
Verification in non-human primates is extremely useful as a preclinical study with a view to the clinical application of new technologies. However, creating a uterine transplant model in cynomolgus monkeys was considered difficult because they are very small compared to humans and their postoperative management is challenging. The success of this uterine transplantation in cynomolgus monkeys by the research group proves that uterine transplantation is technically feasible in this animal. Furthermore, the creation of this model is a major achievement that will contribute to solving medical challenges related to uterine transplantation. The research group aims for the first clinical application of uterine transplantation in Japan, and it is greatly anticipated that this will bring good news to women with uterine factor infertility for whom pregnancy and childbirth were previously considered impossible.
The results of this research were published in the international medical journal "Journal of Clinical Medicine" on November 18, 2020 (Japan Standard Time).
Please see below for the full press release.