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Blood-Cell Mix Could Help in Transplants
Combining recipient, donor blood can halt rejection process
By Dustin Lushing
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Posted Aug 7, 08 2:57 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Scientists have found a technique that could eliminate the need for transplant patients to endure a regimen of powerful and side-effect-inducing anti-rejection drugs, the BBC reports. By mixing the patient's infection-fighting white blood cells with modified cells from the organ donor, the rejection process can be halted.
"It could eventually offer patients who have had transplant surgery a much higher quality of life, free from complex drug regimes," one researcher said. The development is in early stages, but trials involving 17 patients were promising. Ten were able to gradually stop their drug routine, and six others were able to rely on one low dose of a particular drug.