‘Groundbreaking’ breakthrough for organ transplants as scientists change donor kidney’s blood type, which could give a boost to patients on the waiting list
- Breakthrough enables donor kidneys to be converted to universal O blood type
- Blood groups A and B cannot currently be transplanted together
- The problem is particularly acute for minority ethnic groups – more of the B type
- Ethnic minorities often wait a year longer than white patients
Scientists have changed the blood type of donor kidneys in a ‘groundbreaking’ discovery that could increase organ transplant coverage.
Kidneys from blood group A patients cannot currently be transplanted into blood group B patients, nor vice versa. This means that many patients have to wait for a match.
The problem is particularly acute for minority ethnic groups, who are more likely to have Group B blood.
Donation rates from these populations are low, resulting in insufficient kidneys.
However, scientists have figured out how to convert kidneys to the universal blood type O, allowing more transplants to take place.
The researchers used a normothermic perfusion machine, which normally passes oxygenated blood through a donor kidney to preserve it.
Professor Mike Nicholson from the University of Cambridge is one of the scientists responsible for the breakthrough. Pictured: Professor Nicholson works on a perfusing kidney that could increase transplant availability
The groundbreaking discovery enables organs to be transformed into O-type blood, which can be used on patients of any blood type
However, they used the device to flush blood infused with an enzyme through three kidneys to remove the blood group markers, or antigens, that line the blood vessels.
As a result, the organs were transformed into O-type blood, which can be used for patients of any blood type.
This could affect so many lives
PhD student Serena MacMillan
The breakthrough is the work of Professor Mike Nicholson, Professor of Transplant Surgery at Cambridge University, and PhD student Serena MacMillan.
Ms MacMillan said: “Our confidence was really boosted after we applied the enzyme to a piece of human kidney tissue and quickly saw the antigens were removed. After that, we knew the process was feasible, and we just had to scale up the project to apply the enzyme to full-size human kidneys.
PhD student Serena MacMillan (above) is also responsible for the breakthrough and is excited about how it could potentially impact “so many lives”.
“By taking human B-type kidneys and pumping the enzyme through the organ with our normothermic perfusion machine, we saw within a few hours that we had converted a B-type kidney into a type O kidney. It’s very exciting to think about how this could potentially affect so many lives.’
People from minority ethnic groups often wait a year longer for a transplant than white patients, so this may help them the most. Last year, just over 9 percent of all organ donations came from black and ethnic minority donors — patients from these groups make up 33 percent of the kidney transplant waiting list.
dr Kidney Research UK’s Aisling McMahon said: “The research that Mike and Serena are doing is potentially groundbreaking.”