Transplant News and Research

RSS

Healthy people with high urinary protein levels have elevated kidney disease risk

Measuring the amount of protein lost in the urine can identify individuals at risk of developing kidney disease, according to a study appearing in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

11 Feb 2009

$Osteoblast cell injections accelerate fracture healing$

Osteoblast cell injections accelerate fracture healing

Long bone fractures heal faster after injections of bone-building cells.

11 Feb 2009

Bone marrow transplant patients may benefit from new immune research

Bone marrow transplant (BMT) researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center in Milwaukee may have found a mechanism that could preserve the leukemia-killing effects of a transplant graft, while limiting the damage donor immune cells might do to the recipient host's vital organs.

11 Feb 2009

ViroPharma reports results of trial for Maribavir in bone marrow transplant patients

ViroPharma Incorporated has announced that its Phase 3 trial evaluating maribavir used as prophylaxis in allogeneic stem cell, or bone marrow, transplant (SCT) patients did not achieve its primary endpoint.

10 Feb 2009

Immunosuppressant medication cyclosporine may be cost-effective for dry eye syndrome

A topical eye emulsion consisting of cyclosporine (a medication used to reduce transplant rejections or to treat arthritis and psoriasis) may be a cost-effective treatment for dry eye syndrome that does not respond to other therapies, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

9 Feb 2009

Sangamo BioSciences starts trial of CCR5-ZFP therapeutic to treat HIV/AIDS

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. has announced that its collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania have opened a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate SB-728-T for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

5 Feb 2009

Capn4 protein predicts liver cancer recurrence and after transplantation

A new study suggests that Capn4, a protein involved in cell migration, is associated with liver cancer recurrence and metastasis after liver transplantation.

3 Feb 2009

Gene-targeting approach for herpes treatment

A new therapy being developed at the University of Florida could, in time, produce another weapon for the fight against herpes.

3 Feb 2009

Blocking off splenic artery helps liver transplant patients with small-for-size syndrome

Blocking off the splenic artery, either through surgical ligation or radiological coiling, helped six out of seven patients suffering from small-for-size syndrome after a partial liver transplant.

3 Feb 2009

Surgeons remove healthy kidney through donor's vagina

In what is believed to be a first-ever procedure, surgeons at Johns Hopkins have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.

2 Feb 2009

Lung transplants: Doing more is better and safer

Transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence that hospitals performing at least 20 lung transplant procedures a year, on average, have the best overall patient survival rates and lowest number of deaths from the complex surgery.

29 Jan 2009

New method for projecting future kidney function in transplants

The older the kidney, the worse it works - though exactly how much worse isn't known.

27 Jan 2009

Unexpected finding opens up new way to stop autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection

After several years of battling recurring infections, the last thing a patient and her doctors ever expected was that the cause of her problems might actually help millions live longer, more active lives.

23 Jan 2009

Stromedix awarded U.S. patent for antibody-based therapeutics

Stromedix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on innovative therapies for fibrosis and fibrotic organ failure, announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has granted patent number US 7,465,449, which broadly covers monoclonal antibodies to integrin ávâ6, including compositions related to its lead product, STX-100.

23 Jan 2009

Three new nomograms predict successful kidney transplant outcomes

Kidney transplants are the best available therapy for end stage renal disease.

23 Jan 2009

New and simple urine test detects common cause of kidney transplant failure

A new and simple urine test can detect polyomavirus nephropathy, a relatively new and serious complication that affects up to 9% of kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

21 Jan 2009

Cell transplantation and diabetes: New sites, new devices

Early attempts at islet cell transplantation to treat diabetes date to the nineteenth century, decades before the discovery of insulin in the 1930s.

21 Jan 2009

Kidney transplant survival can be long-term for people with HIV

A Johns Hopkins study finds that HIV-positive kidney transplant recipients could have the same one-year survival rates for themselves and their donor organs as those without HIV, provided certain risk factors for transplant failure are recognized and tightly managed.

19 Jan 2009

Presumed consent or opt-out system may increase organ donation rates

There is currently insufficient supply of donor organs to meet the demand for organ transplantations in the UK. The number of patients registered for a transplant continues to increase. In March 2008, 7,655 patients were on the active transplant list; 506 died in 2007-2008 while waiting for their transplant.

15 Jan 2009

Transplanted fatty livers associated with worse prognosis for patients with hepatitis C

A new study suggests that patients with hepatitis C (HCV) who need a liver transplant should not receive an organ with high levels of fatty deposits (a.k.a. hepatic steatosis).

14 Jan 2009