{"id":193660,"date":"2025-10-09T11:13:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/?p=193660"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:50:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:50:55","slug":"pig-to-human-liver-transplant-keeps-patient-alive-for-171-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/news\/193660\/","title":{"rendered":"Pig-to-human liver transplant keeps patient alive for 171 days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As documented in the Journal of Hepatology, the patient survived for 171 days, showing that a pig liver can perform essential functions in a human body – but also highlighting the serious challenges that remain.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization, thousands of people die waiting for a liver transplant every year. In China alone, hundreds of thousands suffer from liver failure, yet only about 6,000 receive a transplant.<\/p>\n

The patient, a 71-year-old man with liver disease caused by hepatitis B and liver cancer, could not undergo conventional surgery or receive a human liver.<\/p>\n

Doctors implanted a liver from a specially engineered Diannan miniature pig. The pig’s liver had ten gene changes designed to reduce rejection by the human immune system and make blood clotting safer.<\/p>\n

For the first month, the transplant worked remarkably well. The liver produced bile and important blood-clotting proteins with no signs of immediate rejection.<\/p>\n

But complications arose on day 38 when the patient developed a serious condition called xenotransplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (xTMA), linked to immune reactions and blood vessel damage.<\/p>\n

Treatments helped manage the condition, but the patient later suffered repeated internal bleeding and died on day 171.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"