Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Normothermic Machine Perfusion of Rat Kidneys for Transplantation
Published on: January 27, 2026
Metabolomic perfusate analysis during kidney machine perfusion: the pig provides an appropriate model for human
Jay Nath1, Alison Guy2, Thomas B Smith3
1Department of Renal Surgery, University Hospitals Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Department of Immunity & Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Introduction:
Hypothermic machine perfusion offers great promise in kidney transplantation and experimental studies are needed to establish the optimal conditions for this to occur. Pig kidneys are considered to be a good model for this purpose and share many properties with human organs. However it is not established whether the metabolism of pig kidneys in such hypothermic hypoxic conditions is comparable to human organs.
Methods:
Standard criteria human (n = 12) and porcine (n = 10) kidneys underwent HMP using the LifePort Kidney Transporter 1.0 (Organ Recovery Systems) using KPS-1 solution. Perfusate was sampled at 45 minutes and 4 hours of perfusion and metabolomic analysis performed using 1-D 1H-NMR spectroscopy.
Results:
There was no inter-species difference in the number of metabolites identified. Of the 30 metabolites analysed, 16 (53.3%) were present in comparable concentrations in the pig and human kidney perfusates. The rate of change of concentration for 3-Hydroxybutyrate was greater for human kidneys (p<0.001). For the other 29 metabolites (96.7%), there was no difference in the rate of change of concentration between pig and human samples.
Conclusions:
Whilst there are some differences between pig and human kidneys during HMP they appear to be metabolically similar and the pig seems to be a valid model for human studies.
