Health Secretary Urged to Immediately Halt Trans-species Organ Transplants; Study Illustrates Dangers to Humans

1/16/2004

From: Tina Nelson, 215-887-0816, or Crystal Miller-Spiegel, 215-370-5585 or cspiegel@aavs.org, both of the American Anti-Vivisection Society

JENKINTOWN, Pa., Jan. 16 -- In a letter written to Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson, the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) has called for an immediate halt on studies involving xenotransplantation, the transplanting of organs, cells, and tissues from a member of one species into a member of another species. AAVS sent the letter to Secretary Thompson in response to a paper published on Jan. 8, 2004, in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.

The study found that pigs, who had been injected with human stem cells while in utero, exhibit pig (porcine), human, and hybrid (porcine/human) cells in their organs and blood. This is the first time that cell fusion has been observed in live animals. According to the study's authors, Ogle, et al., "the hybrids contain the porcine endogenous retrovirus and are able to transmit the virus to uninfected human cells." This retrovirus is considered to be a distant relative Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV.

Because organs from genetically-altered pigs have been heralded as the potential solution to alleviate the shortage of suitable human organs in the United States and elsewhere, the findings from this study provide an important case to abandon plans to transplant pig-derived cells, organs, and tissues into humans.

"This study clearly illustrates the dangers to public health that are inherent in xenotransplantation," said AAVS Executive Director Tina Nelson. "Not only could such transplants further jeopardize the lives of human patients who so desperately need a healthy organ, but also society as a whole, considering the likelihood of the patient also being infected with a dangerous retrovirus that could spread to other people." The scientists involved postulate that HIV may have originated in this manner when an infected monkey bit a human and their stems cells fused. A retrovirus could also spread among scientists who work with the animals and/or their body parts and fluids.

AAVS also has significant concerns for the animals involved in xenotransplantation experiments, which often involve transplanting hearts and other organs from pigs to non-human primates, who do not survive and often suffer an excruciating death. Pigs used in xenotransplantation experiments are genetically-altered, raised in a sterile and isolated captive environment, and then killed to remove their organs and tissue.

"The solution to the organ donor shortage is not to place the burden on other animals but to change the organ donor system in the U.S. and make it a national priority. Xenotransplantation is similar to putting a filthy band-aid on an infected wound-it will not help but rather worsen the situation," Nelson added. "I urge Secretary Thompson to not ignore these warning signs."

AAVS also sent a copy of its letter to House Representative Jim Greenwood, who is an advocate for transplant patients and who is the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation that held a hearing in June 2003 on the organ donor shortage, and Secretary Thompson's Advisory Committee on Transplantation, which was chartered in 1999 to make recommendations to the DHHS Secretary regarding xenotransplantation policies and procedures after considering the medical, social, scientific, and ethical issues surrounding xenotransplantation, as well as public health concerns.

AAVS is a non-profit animal advocacy and educational organization dedicated to ending experiments on animals in research, testing, and education. Founded in Philadelphia in 1883, AAVS is the oldest organization in the United States dedicated to eliminating experiments on animals. AAVS pursues its objectives through legal and effective advocacy, education, and support of the development of non-animal alternative methods.