ISTANBUL

A Chinese research team has used a gene-edited pig liver in an extracorporeal perfusion therapy to treat a patient with acute liver failure.

The process saved the patient's life and significantly improved key liver function indicators following the treatment, reported the state-run news agency Xinhua on Thursday.

Following the patient’s sudden, life-threatening acute liver failure, a liver from a gene-edited pig was connected to a normothermic machine perfusion device to create an extracorporeal cross-circulation system, according to Xijing Hospital of the Air Force Medical University in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The pig liver, while active, was able to perform essential liver functions, such as detoxification, synthesis, and metabolism, while the patient’s own liver remained in place.

The patient remains in a stable condition.

"This combined approach of using gene-edited organs and extracorporeal cross-circulation provides temporary life support while greatly reducing the burden of immunosuppression," said Tao Kaishan from the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery at Xijing Hospital.

In China, liver failure is estimated to be the cause of 200,000 hospital admissions annually. Due to the possibility of acute liver failure, the mortality risk is still high while waiting for a donor liver.

The initial success of this treatment could "not only buy more time for patients on the transplant list but also expand treatment options for those with end-stage liver disease," said Wang Lin, director of the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery at Xijing Hospital.

Additionally, this research "holds promise for advancing studies on using pig livers to support or even replace human liver function," he added.

Separately, Chinese and Russian doctors successfully completed the country's first bilateral hand allotransplant surgery, according to a report by the Global Times daily.