The man lived for 171 days with genetically modified pork liver in his body.

A recent study described the first successful assisted transplantation of pig liver from a genetically modified pig into a living human. The patient lived for 171 days after surgery, which is the first confirmation that modified pork livers can perform important metabolic and synthetic functions in humans. This was reported on December 7 by Science Daily magazine.

Allegedly, this experience also highlights the technical and medical challenges that continue to limit long-term survival after these types of procedures.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that thousands of people die each year while waiting for donated organs. This is mainly due to a shortage of human tissues. The success of the experiment opens up prospects for solving the serious imbalance between supply and demand for organs.

The patient was a 71-year-old man with cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma, who was not suitable for surgical removal of tumors or human liver transplantation. Surgeons implanted an auxiliary liver with 10 targeted genetic changes. This procedure included the removal of xenogenic antigens and the addition of human antigens to improve compatibility with the human immune and coagulation systems.

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During the first month after transplantation, the pig liver transplant functioned well, producing bile and generating clotting factors without signs of hyperacute or acute rejection. However, on day 38, doctors removed it after the patient developed thrombocytopenic microangiopathy associated with xenotransplantation. After that, the patient had several episodes of bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract. On the 171st day, the man died.

"This case proves that genetically modified pork liver can function in the human body for a long time. This is an important step forward, demonstrating both the prospects and the remaining obstacles, especially related to blood clotting disorders and immune complications, that need to be overcome," Beicheng Sun, MD, PhD, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, President of the First Hospital at Anhui Medical University in China.

Heiner Wedemeyer, MD, Professor of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology at Hanover Medical School, called this report an important milestone in hepatology. According to him, it demonstrates that a genetically modified pork liver can take root and provide key organ functions in a human recipient.

On October 27, The Wired reported on an American man named Tim Andrews who lived for nine months with a pig's kidney. It was clarified that the organ functioned longer than all previous similar transplants. However, against the background of gradual refusal, the genetically modified liver had to be removed.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.