Blood Vessel Grafts

Cytograft technology, shown to the left, is being used in Dr. McAllister‘s clinical trial for dialysis patients. Dialysis machines clean the blood in leu of the kidneys. Since the blood must exit the body in order for the machines to access the blood, patients are frequently stuck by needles that harvest the blood. Although blood vessels are able to repair themselves normally, they cannot withstand the effects of dialysis forever. Dr. McAllister and his team of researchers are trying to use cytograft technology to replace dying vessels with vessels derived from their own cells. Cells from a patient’s skin are collected and grown into sheets in a dish. They are then rolled up and coated with endothelial cells, or support cells, which are then grafted into the patient. The vessels act as shunts to provide dialysis machines with access to the bloodstream. Since the cells of the grafted vessel are identical to the patient’s other cells, graft vs. host issues are not a concern.The team has thus far been successful in grafting the vessels into 3 patients. It has been 8 months since implantation and the vessels are still functioning well. A phase III study is now being initiated. Dr. McAllister shared this exciting news in a webinar conference on Monday, sponsored by the American Heart Association. Here is a video of the technology, available from Cytograft’s website.