Vitrification and Nanowarming. Is this the Future of Kidney Transplantation.

A recent paper in Transplant International explores the potential of new techniques for kidney transplantation. The traditional method of cold storage for preserving kidneys may be replaced by vitrification and nanowarming, which can preserve kidneys for up to 100 days. These techniques overcome the limitations of cryopreservation, which forms ice crystals. However, there are concerns about the scalability and potential toxicity of these methods for human kidneys. The paper also discusses normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) as an alternative preservation method, allowing for the assessment of kidney quality before transplantation. The concept of organ banking using cryopreservation and nanoparticle rewarming is also mentioned, which could be combined with NMP to assess organ quality. The authors suggest further research is needed to study the application of these techniques in human kidneys. [Extracted from the article]