![Bioengineered blood vessels have been successfully used in kidney dialysis, according to preliminary data reported this month. The multi-centre study, launched almost a year ago, […]](/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/NEWSICON2-620x300.png "Bioengineered Blood Vessels Successfully Used in Kidney Dialysis")
Bioengineered blood vessels have been successfully used in kidney dialysis, according to preliminary data reported this month. The multi-centre study, launched almost a year ago, involved giving vascular grafts to 28 haemodialysis patients. As a result, 100% of patients experienced successful blood flow during dialysis. The findings, presented by Professor Jeffrey Lawson from Duke University School of Medicine in the USA, indicate that the technique could provide a significant improvement in treatment outcomes; currently, synthetic vascular grafts provide an initial blood flow in less than 50% of patients.
None of the 28 patients exhibited any signs of infection, immune rejection, or structural degeneration. Although eight of the patients did later experience a loss of blood flow, this was successfully restored. Professor Lawson described the early data as “very encouraging” but commented that further research is needed, with “longer term evaluations in a larger patient population” being necessary before the technique can be applied routinely.
The technology is the culmination of 15 years of collaboration between Professor Lawson, Dr Laura Niklason and Humacyte Inc., a company specialising in regenerative medical technology. The vessels are made by growing donated human tissue on a biodegradable scaffold, which dissolves as the cells grow. The vessel then undergoes a process of ‘decellularization’, leaving behind a collagen structure which does not elicit an immune response. The vessels could therefore be mass-produced without needing to tailor them to individual patients.
With 40,000 people in the UK suffering from kidney failure, and more than 20,000 undergoing dialysis, these “off-the shelf human tissue replacements” provide the potential to make a real difference in treatment outcomes. Furthermore, as the bioengineered vessels could be used more widely to replace diseased and injured vessels, the findings have implications for the treatment of a range of diseases in the future.
