A research team at the Keio University School of Medicine, led by Project Professor Eiji Kobayashi and Associate Professor of Cardiology Motoaki Sano, through joint research with Doctorsman Co., Ltd. (President So Hashimoto), has shown that by quickly injecting hydrogen gas into an organ preservation solution, an injured organ removed from an older miniature pig (donor) can be resuscitated and used as a transplant organ, even after circulation has ceased for a certain period of time.
The research team has developed a new method for safely producing, in a matter of minutes, a hydrogen-rich organ preservation solution that contains dissolved hydrogen gas by instantly injecting the solution with hydrogen gas from a canister containing a hydrogen storage alloy.
The transplantation of organs from marginal donors, including donation after circulatory death, is an important countermeasure to make up for donor shortages and reduce waiting times for transplant recipients. With marginal organs, however, in addition to warm ischemia, cold preservation failure while in a preservation solution can cause pronounced ischemia-reperfusion injury(IRI) upon transplantation, and there is a high probability of an organ going into a non-functional state (primary non-function) after transplantation. It was anticipated that developing a simple method for hydrogen supplementation to organ preservation solution could facilitate the recovery of damaged organ function ahead of transplantation as well as improve prognosis after a transplantation is complete.
The research team’s newly developed method brings portability to hydrogen gas sources so that, in the event of an emergency, hydrogen gas can be quickly injected into an organ preservation solution at the site of donor organ procurement.
The results of this study are expected to play a role in expanding the use of donor organs that could not otherwise be used in conventional transplants.
The results of this study were published on October 1 (EST) in the online open access scientific journal PLOS ONE.
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Resuscitation of Marginal Donor Organs Following Circulatory Arrest Development of Hydrogen-Rich Organ Preservation Solution Using Hydrogen-absorbing Alloy Canisters