Objectives:

Clinical progress in liver transplantation has increased the demand for organs, however, supply remains stagnant. Porcine liver xenotransplantation (LXT) would help address this imbalance. Here we analyze the lipid and protein metabolism profile of baboon recipients of LXT.

Methods:

Analysis was performed on our longest-surviving GalT-KO pig-to-nonhuman primate LXT recipients (25 and 29 days, respectively), who underwent LXT with continuous coagulation factor infusion and co-stimulation blockade. Controls consisted of pre-transplant porcine and recipient baboon blood. Serum samples were prepared and analyzed for a standard lipid profile using the Roche/Hitachi MODULAR P analyzer. Plasma samples were prepared by deproteinization and analyzed using the Biochrom 30 Amino Acid analyzer.

Results:

The lipid profiles of LXT recipients remained stable following transplantation and were similar to donor porcine baseline levels. Analyses of amino acids showed a threefold increase in L-ornithine and more than a tenfold decrease in L-arginine, post-transplant, compared to both porcine and baboon baseline levels. Other amino acid concentrations were similar to both controls.

Conclusions:

Porcine xenograft livers appear to function normally in baboons with regard to maintenance of stable lipid profiles post-operatively. Profiles of amino acids were also maintained properly, with the exception of L-ornithine and L-arginine. The observed post-transplant changes of the latter have been previously observed in rodent models of syngeneic liver transplantation, and have been attributed to the effects of graft preservation injury, suggesting that the use of arginine supplementation post-LXT may help to limit injury and further prolong xenograft survival.

CITATION INFORMATION: Louras N., Patel M., Shah J., Sachs D., Vagefi P. Biochemistry Profiles Following Pig-to-Nonhuman Primate Liver Xenotransplantation Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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