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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Normothermic Ex Vivo Kidney Perfusion for the Preservation of Kidney Grafts prior to Transplantation
Published on: July 15, 2015
Ischemia-induced Metabolic Patterns Associate With Kidney Function During Normothermic Kidney Perfusion: A
Julie De Beule1,2, Sam De Craemer2, Laurence Verstraeten1,2
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Transplantation, Laboratory of Abdominal Transplantation, Transplantation Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Changes in perfusate amino acids during kidney preservation indicate organ function. This metabolic analysis offers a new, noninvasive method to assess donor kidney viability before transplantation, improving transplant outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Transplantation immunology
- Organ preservation
- Metabolomics
Background:
- Predicting posttransplant organ function remains a challenge.
- Understanding how ischemia affects kidney biochemistry is crucial for viability testing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if ischemia alters donor kidney metabolism.
- To investigate the association between metabolic changes and organ function.
Main Methods:
- Pig kidneys underwent varying ischemia durations (0, 1, or 22 hours) before 4-hour perfusion.
- Metabolic changes in perfusate (glucose, lactate, amino acids) were analyzed.
- Findings were confirmed in normothermically preserved pig and human kidneys.
Main Results:
- Ischemia significantly altered amino acid profiles in perfusate.
- Perfusate amino acid changes correlated with kidney function during perfusion.
- Similar metabolic patterns were observed in pig and human donor kidneys.
Conclusions:
- Perfusate metabolite analysis during normothermic kidney perfusion can noninvasively assess graft viability.
- This method requires further validation in clinical transplant studies.
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