Research coming from several transplant centers is now showing that it may be possible to use blood cells and bone marrow cells from kidney donors to reduce the need for immunosuppressants.
Currently, patients who receive kidney transplants must take anti-rejection drugs, also known as immunosuppressives, to protect their transplanted kidney. Kidney recipients must keep their immune system suppressed so that their body doesn’t attack or reject the transplanted kidney. The problem: anti-rejection drugs are costly, and can cause a lot of side effects which may lead to other health problems down the road.
Research coming from several transplant centers is now showing that it may be possible to use blood cells and bone marrow cells from kidney donors to reduce the need for immunosuppressants. In an article recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, five patients with living related donors (donors who were family members) were given bone marrow and kidneys from their donors at the same time. Four of the five patients were able to stop immunosuppressive therapy after about a year and have stayed off therapy for 2-5 years.
Although more research will need to be done, this could be a promising new way to prevent kidney rejection without the use of harmful and expensive drugs.
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