A New Research May Speed Up Kidney Transplant Matching

The journey of getting a kidney transplant is not easy. Not only the waiting time is long, but it also is not easy to find a suitable match in the first place. The donor’s blood type and kidney tissue must match with the recipient’s to reduce the chances of body rejection in the future. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have successfully changed the blood type of a deceased kidney, potentially increasing the kidney supply for transplant. It may be a game-changer for a lot of people.

Based on current knowledge, blood types A and B cannot match, but a donated kidney with blood type O can be transplanted to people with any blood type. Researchers at the University of Cambridge washed the deceased kidney with blood containing a special enzyme that could remove the blood type marker from the kidneys and successfully turned it to blood type O.

In the next step, the team will stimulate the actual transplant process and monitor how the kidneys will respond when given a supply of blood from their new blood group.

BBC health and science correspondent has commented that it is a fascinating idea, yet more proof is required. The blood group is only one of the three factors for kidney transplantation. Tissue matching and cross-matching remain the other critical factors. Other than that, the team needs to monitor how the kidneys react to the formerly mismatched blood and ensure no damage will be done to the kidneys. A small clinical trial is also needed. At present, getting more people to become organ donors is the best way to increase the kidney supply for transplantation.