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Xenotransplantation and porcine cytomegalovirus
Author(s) -
Denner Joachim
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
xenotransplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.052
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1399-3089
pISSN - 0908-665X
DOI - 10.1111/xen.12180
Subject(s) - xenotransplantation , allotransplantation , human cytomegalovirus , cytomegalovirus , biology , transplantation , virology , specific pathogen free , heterologous , immunology , virus , medicine , herpesviridae , viral disease , surgery , biochemistry , gene
Porcine microorganisms may be transmitted to the human recipient when xenotransplantation with pig cells, tissues, and organs will be performed. Most of such microorganisms can be eliminated from the donor pig by specified or designated pathogen‐free production of the animals. As human cytomegalovirus causes severe transplant rejection in allotransplantation, considerable concern is warranted on the potential pathogenicity of porcine cytomegalovirus ( PCMV ) in the setting of xenotransplantation. On the other hand, despite having a similar name, PCMV is different from HCMV . The impact of PCMV infection on pigs is known; however, the influence of PCMV on the human transplant recipient is unclear. However, first transplantations of pig organs infected with PCMV into non‐human primates were associated with a significant reduction of the survival time of the transplants. Sensitive detection methods and strategies for elimination of PCMV from donor herds are required.