Monday, July 19, 2010

Artificial Lung "Breathes" in Rats: Study

Reuters
July 16, 2010

From NursingLink

U.S. researchers have created a primitive artificial lung that rats used to breathe for several hours. The device may be a step toward the development of new organs grown from a patient's own cells, the researchers said on Tuesday.

The finding, reported online July 13th in Nature Medicine, is the second in a month from researchers seeking ways to regenerate lungs from ordinary cells.

In the latest study, Dr. Harald Ott and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston removed the cells from rat lungs to leave scaffolds with acellular vasculature, airways and alveoli.

Then they "seeded" the scaffolding with epithelial and endothelial cells to regenerate gas exchange tissue. Next, they simulated the physiologic environment of developing lung in a bioreactor.

By the fifth day, when perfused with blood and ventilated at physiologic pressures the scaffolds "generated gas exchange comparable to that of isolated native lungs," according to the authors.

When implanted in rats, they worked for up to six hours after extubation, although imperfectly.

The researchers said it may be possible to try the experiment with more embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells.

Last month, a team at Yale University in Connecticut implanted engineered lung tissue into rats that helped the animals breathe for two hours.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

No comments: