Sixty minutes after the anesthetized animals’ hearts stopped, the Yale researchers were able to restart circulation using a specialized machine and a synthetic fluid that carries oxygen and other ingredients that promote cellular health and suppress inflammation. Six hours later, treatment with the so-called OrganEx technology had reduced or corrected some of the damage, such as organ swelling and blood vessel collapse, which usually results from a lack of oxygen when cardiac arrest stops blood flow.
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The results show that when the heart stops, the body “is not as dead as we previously assumed,” Zvonimir Vrselja of Yale University told a news conference. “We were able to show that we can make the cells not die.” Story continues below ad Genetic analysis of the tissues showed that molecular and cellular repair processes had begun once circulation was restored, the researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. Compared to traditional means of circulatory restoration – extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) – OrganEx “preserved tissue integrity, reduced cell death, and restored select molecular and cellular processes in multiple vital organs,” the researchers wrote. Trending Stories
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During the entire experiment, the pigs had no evidence of electrical activity in the brain, the researchers said. They hope OrganEx will eventually enable increased use of organs retrieved after life support is withdrawn from donors with severe, irreversible brain damage, preventing the damage that occurs when blood stops circulating. Currently, these organs fare worse after transplant than those procured from brain-dead donors who remain on life support. However, that may be years away. Story continues below ad READ MORE: Can Canadians travel safely as BA.5 sub-variant spreads globally? Here’s what to consider The result of the pig study “doesn’t say that the organs were restored to the level of function” necessary to support life, said Stephen Latham of Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. In theory, the technology could one day be used to restore life to someone who has just died. “To do that, a lot more experimentation is needed,” Latham said. “And you should consider what state a man would be restored to.” Use in organ transplantation is a much closer, more realistic goal, Latham said. Any use of OrganEx as a medical treatment “would be a long way off.” (Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
