Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Pigs are easy feeding and easy propagation, and their organ size matches human organ. Furthermore, the matching ability of organ donor and receptor could be enhanced by genetic engineering. Therefore pigs are the best large-animal model as heterogeneous organ donor.  
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the recent research progress on xenotransplantation using pig organs.
METHODS: An online search of PubMed database and Wanfang database was performed for relevant articles published between January 2001 and December 2010 on xenotransplantation using pig donor or non-human primate donor.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The clinical application of pig donor in xenotransplantation could alleviate the organ shortage. But there are still some immunological obstacles in xenotransplantation, which could be resolved by genetic engineering and immunosuppressive drug innovation. So far, the immunologic rejection cannot be completely overcome on the current research level. Besides, heterogeneous pathogen infection can be caused by xenotransplantation, such as porcine endogenous retrovirus. It is uncertain whether using pig donor in xenotransplantation is potentially infectious, but along with further studies, immune rejection and viral infection problems will be completely overcome.