Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the United States have published an early clinical trial in the latest issue of "Science Translational Medicine": Infusing immune cells from donors to live donor liver transplant recipients one week before transplantation is feasible and safe, and may enable the recipient to successfully escape immunosuppressants without rejecting the transplanted organ. This study opens up a new avenue that is expected to help organ transplant recipients overcome the serious side effects of long-term use of immunosuppressants. Dr. Angus Thomson, senior author of the study and professor of immunology and surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, stated that the experimental results are very encouraging. Preliminary evidence suggests that this intervention allows patients to safely reduce or even eliminate immune suppression. If patients no longer rely indefinitely on immunosuppressants, it would be a great blessing for them. In a Phase I trial, the research team recruited 15 patients who planned to receive treatment. Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) patients received donor immune cell infusion and compared it with 40 LDLT patients who did not receive infusion. A few weeks before the surgery, the research team extracted blood from donors and isolated monocytes. Then, they induced monocytes to produce regulatory dendritic cells (DCreg), which can help the rest of the immune system distinguish foreign invaders. One week before transplantation, newly prepared DCreg was injected into the patient's body. Then the transplant proceeds normally, and the patient receives immunosuppressive therapy, just like conventional treatment. The researchers examined the differences in immune activity between two patient groups. After one year of transplantation, they found that patients receiving DCreg infusion showed a decrease in other immune cells in the body, which would have a negative reaction to the transplanted liver. In animal research, this reduction can successfully rid animals of immunosuppressants. Interestingly, the transplanted DCreg only lasted for a few days in the patient's body, but during that time, small particles called exosomes were produced, allowing cells to transmit information from one cell to another for communication, thereby affecting various cell behaviors. (New News Agency)