3 ms·

It’s pretty hard to seal off the kidney from the immune system since the immune system is in the blood and kidneys filter blood

kelnos 3y ago
And yet, they seem to have accomplished this, in pigs at least.
- epcoa 3y ago
  No they have not. Read the article carefully. They have had some success with implanting renal epithelial cells, but they have not demonstrated filtration function. It’s promising but not quite there and things may go prove to be more difficult than you think. “ Eventually, scientists plan to fill the bioreactor with different kidney cells that perform vital functions like balancing the body’s fluids and releasing hormones to regulate blood pressure – then pair it with a device that filters waste from the blood.”
  - DennisP 3y ago
    But they did successfully isolate the epithelial cells from the immune system, as claimed above. And those cells survived for a week and managed to "mimic several important kidney functions." I don't see how they could have survived if they weren't exposed to blood. The filter won't be biological, so that part shouldn't trigger an immune response either.
    - epcoa 3y ago
      Well they were “exposed” through a silicon membrane - but the point that were not exposed to whole blood. So the two questions on feasibility is how massive does this have to be to get effective filtration without resorting to pumping, and the thrombosis question. They discuss the methods - they last for 7 days but will they last for 7 years? 7 weeks? There’s just a ton of stuff between this experiment and a fully functional kidney.
      - DennisP 3y ago
        Next step is a similar experiment lasting several months, so we should get an answer to one of your questions before too long. If it keeps a pig alive for that long then that seems like a good sign. They do say patients would still need EPO injections, since the device doesn't contain the type of cells required for that. And with sufficient funding they're still 4-5 years away from clinical trials, so they seem to agree there's a lot of work to go.

kelnos 3y ago

And yet, they seem to have accomplished this, in pigs at least.

epcoa 3y ago
No they have not. Read the article carefully. They have had some success with implanting renal epithelial cells, but they have not demonstrated filtration function. It’s promising but not quite there and things may go prove to be more difficult than you think. “ Eventually, scientists plan to fill the bioreactor with different kidney cells that perform vital functions like balancing the body’s fluids and releasing hormones to regulate blood pressure – then pair it with a device that filters waste from the blood.”
- DennisP 3y ago
  But they did successfully isolate the epithelial cells from the immune system, as claimed above. And those cells survived for a week and managed to "mimic several important kidney functions." I don't see how they could have survived if they weren't exposed to blood. The filter won't be biological, so that part shouldn't trigger an immune response either.
  - epcoa 3y ago
    Well they were “exposed” through a silicon membrane - but the point that were not exposed to whole blood. So the two questions on feasibility is how massive does this have to be to get effective filtration without resorting to pumping, and the thrombosis question. They discuss the methods - they last for 7 days but will they last for 7 years? 7 weeks? There’s just a ton of stuff between this experiment and a fully functional kidney.
    - DennisP 3y ago
      Next step is a similar experiment lasting several months, so we should get an answer to one of your questions before too long. If it keeps a pig alive for that long then that seems like a good sign. They do say patients would still need EPO injections, since the device doesn't contain the type of cells required for that. And with sufficient funding they're still 4-5 years away from clinical trials, so they seem to agree there's a lot of work to go.