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No signs of virus in pig-human cell transplants LONDON (Reuters)--Aug. 5, 1998--People who received cells from pigs for pancreatic disorders and Parkinson's disease have not shown any signs of being infected with a pig virus, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday. Fears that pig retroviruses could be transferred to humans who receive pig organs, tissue or cells is one of the main concerns and stumbling blocks in xenotransplantation -- animal-to-human transplants. But the weekly magazine said the results of studies presented to the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Interim Regulation Authority (UKXIRA) during a closed workshop last week showed the concerns may be fading. "The findings, based on screening samples from patients exposed to pig tissue, provide the first compelling evidence that dormant pig viruses do not spread to humans, causing new and incurable diseases," the magazine said. Walid Heinene and Louisa Chapman of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, told the workshop that their study of 10 Swedish diabetic patients who received pig pancreatic islet cells, which make insulin, had found no trace of pig virus DNA or any antibodies to the virus in their blood. "We looked in blood, lymphocytes (white blood corpuscles) and serum, and found nothing," said Heinene. "These are reassuring data." But he was cautious about extrapolating the results to other transplants. The magazine said a Massachusetts-based company called Diacrin, which has developed treatment for Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease using brain cells from pig fetuses, also found no trace of the pig virus in its 24 patients. "Other companies reported similar results last month in Montreal at the World Congress of the Transplantation Society, an international organization," New Scientist added. Despite the promising results so far doctors are still cautious and concerned that the pig viruses could be transferred if pig organs, not just cells or tissue, are used. "If there are negative results does it mean no one's infected, or that you can't detect it?" asked Dr Robin Weiss, the man who raised the alarm about the viruses last year when he showed they could be transferred to human cells in the laboratory. "It's fraught with difficulties," he added. Last week Britain unveiled new measures to tighten the regulation of animal-to-human transplants to protect potential organ recipients as well as wider public health. Thousands of people die every year because of a shortage of donated organs. Up to 50,000 people in Europe are waiting for transplants and demand is growing by 15 percent a year. Globally, one in three people will receive the organ they need in 1998. Animal-to-human transplants may be the only way to solve the shortage. -- Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada [log in to unmask]