Reducing donor organ rejection with stem cells

You may have seen in the news that an 8 year old girl has become the first kidney transplant recipient in the UK not to require ongoing anti-rejection drugs.

Girl receives UK's first rejection-free kidney from mum

If you follow this blog, you will know from Natasha's organ transplant story that anti-rejection drugs (which are designed to suppress the immune system), can cause organ damage, as well as increased infections. So, this is great news for those requiring transplants such as Aditi.

How does it work?

Aditi was first given a bone marrow stem cell transplant from her mother - this rebuilt her compromised immune system (a feature of the disorder that Aditi has), and then her body accepted her mother's cells as if they were hers. This is why when Aditi received a kidney transplant from her mother, her living donor, her body accepted her mother's kidney as her own. Thus, no need for anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life.

This does mean that the use of this treatment is limited, because it requires living donation of stem cells and then an organ from the same person, who must also be ascertained as a match to the recipient. It is possible to be a living donor of one of your kidneys, part of your liver, and of certain tissue, such as bone marrow stem cells and bone.

What is a stem cell?