Prospects for Xenotransplantation: Identifying psychosocial and pastoral challenges Jochen Sautermeister, Richard Mathieu, Veronika Bogner Chair for Moral Theology, Catholic Theological Faculty, University Munich,

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a major health problem throughout the world. In the U.S., it is estimated that about 1.5 million people suffer from T1D. Even when well controlled—by frequent monitoring of blood glucose and administration of insulin, the long-term complications of the disease are significant and include cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy (1). Here we revie...

Donor organ availability has become a major limiting factor in the progress of allotransplantation. This, and advances in genetic engineering in pigs, have led to increasing interest in the use of xenogeneic organs. In view of the greater difficulty encountered in overcoming immune responses to xenografts than to allografts, the success of clinical xenotransplantation may depend on finding ways...

Binding of natural anti-pig antibodies in humans and nonhuman primates to carbohydrate antigens expressed on the transplanted pig organ, the most important of which is galactose-α1,3-galactose (Gal), activate the complement cascade, which results in destruction of the graft within minutes or hours, known as hyperacute rejection. Even if antibody is removed from the recipient's blood by plasmaph...