Resumen

BAZAN MILIAN, Manuel; GONZALEZ JIMENEZ, Noel  y  DELGADO BEREIJO, Lourdes. Xenotransplantation: Current state, limitations and expectations. Rev Cubana Cir [online]. 2004, vol.43, n.2. ISSN 0034-7493.

There is no doubt that having animal organs for transplantation will solve the problem of their scarcity, but for xenotransplantations to turn into a clinical reality, it is necessary to overcome three barriers: the immunological, the physiological and the xenozoonosis risk. From the immunological point of view, it would be necessary that the xenorejection could be modulated and transformed into an allorejection type. The advances of transgenic technology have completely solved the hyperacute rejection, and maximum survivals of 3 months have been attained for the kidney and the lung. These suvivals have allowed to study the physiological compatibility of this porcine organs transplanted in monkeys during these periods. As to the infectious barriers, with the present biotechnological development in the area of porcine production, it is guaranteed the birth of specific antigen free pigs. No clinical xenotransplantation with transgenic porcine organs has been reported so far. The reason for this is the existance of an unanimous criterion that the immunological barriers have not been overcome yet. Nowadays, all the efforts are directed to study the mechanisms of retarded acute vascular rejection to design strategies preventing it with effectiveness

Palabras clave : Xenotransplantation; xenorejection; transgenic organs; xenozoonosis.