RT Journal
A1 Friedrich MJ
T1 GEne therapy repair of donor lungs improves outlook for transplantation
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2009
FD December 16
VO 302
IS 23
SP 2530
OP 2530
DO 10.1001/jama.302.23.2530
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.302.23.2530
AB 
As many as 80% of lungs available for transplantation cannot be used because they have been damaged by the inflammatory response to brain death, explained Shaf Keshavjee, MD, of the University of Toronto and director of Toronto General Hospital's lung transplant program. But Keshavjee and colleagues demonstrated that the new approach reduced inflammation and improved lung function in pig lungs that were treated outside the body and transplanted into recipient pigs. They also showed that the same approach brought about a similar improvement in human donor lungs deemed unsuitable for transplantation. Although more work needs to be done before lungs treated in this way can be transplanted into human recipients, these data suggest that this gene repair strategy could increase the number of usable donor organs (Cypel M et al. Sci Transl Med. 2009;1[4]:4ra9).