After ten years of hard work, scientists have taken a big step toward solving one of the biggest problems in kidney transplants finding a donor whose blood type matches the recipient’s.
Researchers from Canada and China have created a “universal” kidney that could, in theory, work for any patient, no matter their blood type.
The test kidney was placed inside the body of a brain-dead person whose family agreed to the experiment. It worked for several days.
“This is the first time we’ve seen this in a human model,” said Stephen Withers, a biochemist at the University of British Columbia. “It gives us important information that can help improve future transplants.”
Why Blood Type Is Important in Transplants
People with type O blood can only receive kidneys from type O donors. Because more than half of people waiting for transplants have type O blood and type O kidneys can be used for anyone they are always in very high demand.
Doctors can sometimes perform transplants between people of different blood types, but it’s a complicated, expensive, and risky process. It also requires living donors, since doctors need time to prepare the recipient’s body for surgery.
How the Scientists Did It
In this study, scientists changed a type A kidney into a type O kidney using special enzymes.
These enzymes remove sugar molecules (antigens) that identify a person’s blood type.
The enzymes work like tiny scissors, cutting away the parts of the molecules that make the kidney appear as type A. Once those are gone, the kidney becomes “neutral,” just like type O blood.
“It’s like removing the red paint from a car to reveal the plain base underneath,” Withers said. “Once that happens, the immune system no longer sees the organ as foreign.”
A Promising Step Forward
After the modified kidney was transplanted, some type A markers started to reappear by the third day, which caused a mild immune reaction. However, the reaction was weaker than usual, and the body showed signs of trying to accept the organ.
More research is needed before testing this method on living patients, but the results so far are very encouraging.
Why This Matters
Each day, about 11 people die in the United States while waiting for a kidney transplant most of them needing type O kidneys.
Scientists are exploring many possible solutions, including using pig kidneys and developing new ways to prevent rejection.
“This is what it looks like when years of research finally start to help real patients,” Withers said. “Seeing our work get closer to saving lives inspires us to keep going.”
The research was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.