Liver Transplant: Preventing Common Complication – US Research

American researchers would have found a way to increase the success rate of liver transplant, according to a study quoted by Reuters.

The blood supply of the liver is interrupted when it is taken from the donor. When blood supply is restored during transplantation in the beneficiary, the blood influx causes inflammation that affects the liver, causing the so-called ischemia-refusal lesion.

The waterfall of events then produced at the cellular and molecular level resulting from the restoration of the blood flow can lead to the dysfunction and rejection of the graft.

In previous experiments, US researchers have found that a protein called Ceacam1 helps protect the liver against lesions during the transplant process.

What the researchers discovered in the new study

In the new study, recently published in the JCI Insights magazine, they discovered that Ceacam1 and another protein, called Human Antigen R (Hur), act together as protective switches that prevent ischemia-raperfusion lesions.

They also discovered a way to stimulate these switches in mice, increasing their protective effect and reducing harmful stress on the liver.

The researchers discovered the same protective relationship between Hur and Ceacam1 and in rejected human ficies, which had been considered inappropriate for transplant.

“One of the most difficult problems in the field of organ transplant remains the lack of liver donors at national level, which has led to a high mortality among patients waiting for a liver transplant,” said Kenneth Dery, study coordinator, from the Faculty of Medicine David Geffen of the University of California (UCLA).

“Our discovery could eventually contribute to solving the lack of donors at national level and to lower the mortality rate,” he added.