Fascinating findings suggest circadian synchrony of donor lung and recipient may determine PGD risk

An intriguing report from Manchester, UK (Cunningham PF et al, 2018)(6) suggests that lungs reperfused between 4 and 8 AM have a higher incidence of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) in the first 72 hours after transplant. The authors imply that cooling the donor lung during preservation shifts the donor circadian clock into desynchrony with the recipient – and this is important because a key clock protein regulates PGD biomarkers. They also imply that maybe in the future, synthetic ligands could be employed to rectify this desynchrony.

 

References:

6. Cunningham P S et al. Incidence of primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation is altered by timing of allograft implantation. Thorax. 2018 Oct 9. pii: thoraxjnl-2018-212021. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2018-212021. [Epub ahead of print] (link to abstract)

Xvivo Insights PB-2019-02-04