| 摘要 |
There is a steadily-increasing worldwide shortage of human donor organs for the purposes of transplantation. For example, in the USA, over 80,000 patients currently await organ transplantation, and yet less than 20,000 cadaveric organs will become available this year. Xenotransplantation – in this case, the use of pig organs in humans – would resolve this problem. Furthermore, the unlimited siurce of pancretic islets and neuronal cells that pigs could provide might lead to treatment options for such common conditions as diabetes mellitus and Parkinson’s disease.
There has recently been progress in research which has drawn the prospect of unlimited pig organs and cells for transplantation into humans several steps closer. Progress has been made in overcoming some of the major immunologic barriers and in reducing the perceived microbiologic risks of xenotransplantation, but there are still likely to be some physiologic problems that require further investigation. |
