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China Team Performs First Combined Pig Liver and Both Kidneys Transplant Into Human

The MED report shows roughly five days of organ function alongside early immune activation, coagulation instability and a short follow‑up that require more cases to test safety and durability.

Overview

  • Surgeons at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University transplanted a six‑gene‑edited pig liver and both pig kidneys into a 53‑year‑old brain‑dead donor and monitored graft function for about 106 hours.
  • The porcine organs began working quickly with bile secretion and urine production and overall blood flow appeared largely normal, indicating substantial physiological compatibility with the human body.
  • Investigators detected signs of immune activation roughly 36 hours after surgery, including elevated S100A12+ immune cells and small areas of tissue death and clotting in the liver.
  • The team reported coagulation instability and a limited observation window set by the family, and the authors said they plan three to five more procedures to assess reproducibility and longer‑term outcomes.
  • The study builds on prior Chinese single‑organ xenotransplants and highlights key next steps for the field: extended follow‑up, infection screening, targeted immunosuppression and broader safety testing before use in living patients.