Search for Cross-Species Transmission of Porcine Endogenous Retrovirus in Patients Treated with Living Pig Tissue

Khazal Paradis(AGCO (Netherlands)), Gillian Langford(AGCO (Netherlands)), Zhifeng Long(Research Institute for Genetic and Human Therapy), Walid Heneine(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Paul Sandstrom(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), William M. Switzer(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Louisa E. Chapman(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Chris Lockey(Research Institute for Genetic and Human Therapy), David Onions(University of Glasgow), The XEN 111 Study Group(Research Institute for Genetic and Human Therapy), Edward Otto(Research Institute for Genetic and Human Therapy)
Science
August 20, 1999
10.1126/science.285.5431.1236
Cited by 732

Abstract

Pig organs may offer a solution to the shortage of human donor organs for transplantation, but concerns remain about possible cross-species transmission of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV). Samples were collected from 160 patients who had been treated with various living pig tissues up to 12 years earlier. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and protein immunoblot analyses were performed on serum from all 160 patients. No viremia was detected in any patient. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 159 of the patients were analyzed by PCR using PERV-specific primers. No PERV infection was detected in any of the patients from whom sufficient DNA was extracted to allow complete PCR analysis (97 percent of the patients). Persistent microchimerism (presence of donor cells in the recipient) was observed in 23 patients for up to 8.5 years.

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