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Transplantations: Allotransplantation and Xenotransplantation

Annette Teepe, Darla Reed
  • Author
    Annette Teepe

    Annette Teepe has taught high school biology for 9 years. She taught biochemistry, organic chemistry lab and cell biology lab for three years at the collegiate level. She has a Doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, a Master's degree in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor's degree in Genetics & Development from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

  • Instructor
    Darla Reed

    Darla has taught undergraduate Enzyme Kinetics and has a doctorate in Basic Medical Science

Learn what an allograft is and understand its definition and relation to transplantation. Compare allografts vs xenografts and discover what allotransplantation is. Updated: 03/15/2022

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between xenograft and allograft?

Allografts are transplants within a species - the donor and the recipient are of the same species. Xenografts are transplants from one species to another species. The new kidney dog recieves from another dog is an example of an allograft. Attempts are being made to transplant pig hearts into people and those hearts would be xenografts.

What is an example of an allograft?

An example of an allograft is the donation of a portion of the liver (from a living donor) or an entire liver (from a deceased donor) to a recipient of the same species. Livers are unique in the human body because of their ability to regenerate. If successful, both the donor and the recipient will ultimately have a full-sized liver. Another example is the donation of a kidney. Since the donor has two kidneys, and one is sufficient, the donor and recipient will each have fully functioning kidneys.

What are allografts used for?

An allograft is tissue that is transplanted from one individual to another individual of the same species. The patient may need an organ transplant to replace an organ that is failing. The organ must be as close as possible a match to the patient's cells as possible. For transplantation to be effective, the organ must be accepted by the body and not rejected. Successful transplantation of allografts saves lives.

Transplantation is a medical procedure in which cells, tissue, organs, or body parts are transferred from one part of the body to a different part of the same body or to another body. Transplantation is done when a tissue or organ is failing or damaged due to disease or trauma, such as a car accident.

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What Is Transplantation?

Have you ever moved from one place to another? Perhaps from one city or state to another, or even to another country? We call people who have moved from one place to another transplants. Transplant means moving something from one place to another and often involves a little bit of hassle.

In science, transplantation refers to the movement of an organ, tissue or general body part from one place to another. If you've ever obtained or renewed a driver's license, the clerk probably asked if you wanted to be an organ donor. If you said 'yes', when you die, your organs may be harvested and transplanted to another person. This type of transplantation is known as allotransplantation.

In allotransplantation, tissues or organs are collected from one individual and transferred to a different place on the same individual or to a different individual of the same species. The most common allotransplantations involve the liver, kidney, and heart. Other organs that can be transplanted are the intestine, lungs, and pancreas. A graft is the tissue donated to the recipient. For allotransplantation, the graft is called an allograft.

Liver transplants are performed when the patient has liver disease/failure that is otherwise untreatable. First, the patient must be determined to be a good candidate (ex. otherwise healthy) for a liver transplant. Then the patient is registered on the national organ transplant waiting list. As potential donors become available, the donor is tissue typed to begin the process of finding the best matches in the waiting pool.

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Xenotransplantation involves the donation of cells, tissue, organs, or body parts from one species to a recipient of another species. The tissue (graft) collected from the donor is called the xenograft. Xenotransplantation has been proposed because of the gap between the number of human donors and the number of people on the waiting list for transplants.

Pigs have been proposed as the animals of choice for providing xenografts to humans. Research focuses primarily on the heart, but also on the kidneys and the islet cells of the pancreas. Some advantages of using pigs are that pig organs are similar in size to human organs, they have large litters (up to 12 piglets), and can be housed in sterile, controlled environments to decrease the chance of disease being transferred to the human recipient.

Due to being more closely genetically related, nonhuman primates were considered and attempted for xenotransplantation in humans. However, ethical concerns, a greater risk of disease transfer to humans, and the greater difficulty in the confinement of nonhuman primates resulted in certain governments, such as the UK, banning nonhuman primates as candidates for transplantation.

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An allograft is a tissue that is being transplanted from one individual to another individual of the same species. For example, a liver from one individual is the allograft that is donated to the recipient in an allotransplantation.

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An autograft is tissue that is taken from one part of an individual's body and placed in a different location on the same individual. Since this tissue is genetically identical, the immune system will not reject the graft. Examples of autografts include skin, blood vessels, bone, and bone marrow. The most common autograft is skin. The patient's skin may have been damaged by burns, injury, disease, or infection. Healthy tissue from the individual will be collected from areas such as the back, abdomen, or inner thigh. The surgeon will overlay the healthy tissue over the damaged area of the skin and apply staples or stitches to secure the graft. A dressing will be applied to protect the area. The patient will be advised to keep the area clean, refrain from heavy activity, and take medication to manage the pain. The area the graft was taken from usually heals more quickly than the area with the new graft. Sometimes, the first graft will not adhere properly and a second graft is required.

Allograft vs Autograft

An allograft is tissue transplanted from an individual of the same species while an autograft is a tissue transplanted from one part of an individual's body to another.

If the patient has torn their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), surgery might be recommended to repair the damage. There are advantages and disadvantages to using allografts or autografts. An allograft would involve transplanting a tendon from a deceased donor. With an allograft, there might be a quicker recovery time, due to needing only one incision in the recipient, but rejection and infection from the donated tissue are a possibility.

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Transplantation is the surgical transfer of cells, tissue, organs, or body parts from one place to another. Allotransplantation is the transfer of cells, tissues, organs, or body parts from one individual of the species to the same or another individual of the same species. The most common allotransplantations are liver, kidney, and heart. The species involved does not need to be human. For example, transplantation of dog kidneys has been successfully performed. The donor does not need to be deceased to donate a graft. Kidney transplants can be given by a living donor, both the donor and recipient will each have a fully functional kidney. . Xenotransplantation involves the transfer of cells, tissues, organs, or body parts from a member of one species to a member of another species. So far, we haven't had a successful xenotransplantation into a human.

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What Is Allotransplantation?

Allotransplantation is the movement of an organ, tissue or other body part from one person to another. Just like an in-state or in-country move, the organ or tissue being transferred stays within the same species. And you don't always have to be dead before your organs or tissues can be transplanted. For example, in kidney transplants, a living person can donate one of his or her kidneys to another person because most of us can survive with just one of these organs.

Allotransplantation
allotransplantation

While allotransplantations must occur within the same species, that species doesn't necessarily have to be human. For instance, if your puppy needs a new kidney and a donor dog is available, then your puppy will get a new kidney through allotransplantation.

Just as transplanted persons often have to get used to new state laws, organs and tissues that move from one person to another have to get used to a new body. In general, new bodies prefer their original parts and often fight off new organs and tissues in a process called rejection. This is why medication is often required for transplant patients.

Allografts and Xenografts

The new kidney your puppy received in the allotransplantation is called a allograft or homograft. A graft refers to the piece that is removed from the donor and given to the recipient.

Allograft
allograft

Xenografts (pronounced zee-no-grafts or zen-oh-grafts) on the other hand, cross species. A xenograft refers to an organ or tissue from a donor belonging to a different species from the recipient. We call this transfer of organs and tissues between members of different species xenotransplantation.

For example, what happens if a patient needs a new heart? How about a non-human donor? Believe it or not, this has been done before. During the 1980's, doctors transplanted the heart of a baboon heart into a human infant in an attempt to save her life. 'Baby Fae' survived for just 20 days after the controversial operation. The cause of death was organ rejection.

Xenograft

Additional Info

What Is Transplantation?

Have you ever moved from one place to another? Perhaps from one city or state to another, or even to another country? We call people who have moved from one place to another transplants. Transplant means moving something from one place to another and often involves a little bit of hassle.

In science, transplantation refers to the movement of an organ, tissue or general body part from one place to another. If you've ever obtained or renewed a driver's license, the clerk probably asked if you wanted to be an organ donor. If you said 'yes', when you die, your organs may be harvested and transplanted to another person. This type of transplantation is known as allotransplantation.

What Is Allotransplantation?

Allotransplantation is the movement of an organ, tissue or other body part from one person to another. Just like an in-state or in-country move, the organ or tissue being transferred stays within the same species. And you don't always have to be dead before your organs or tissues can be transplanted. For example, in kidney transplants, a living person can donate one of his or her kidneys to another person because most of us can survive with just one of these organs.

Allotransplantation
allotransplantation

While allotransplantations must occur within the same species, that species doesn't necessarily have to be human. For instance, if your puppy needs a new kidney and a donor dog is available, then your puppy will get a new kidney through allotransplantation.

Just as transplanted persons often have to get used to new state laws, organs and tissues that move from one person to another have to get used to a new body. In general, new bodies prefer their original parts and often fight off new organs and tissues in a process called rejection. This is why medication is often required for transplant patients.

Allografts and Xenografts

The new kidney your puppy received in the allotransplantation is called a allograft or homograft. A graft refers to the piece that is removed from the donor and given to the recipient.

Allograft
allograft

Xenografts (pronounced zee-no-grafts or zen-oh-grafts) on the other hand, cross species. A xenograft refers to an organ or tissue from a donor belonging to a different species from the recipient. We call this transfer of organs and tissues between members of different species xenotransplantation.

For example, what happens if a patient needs a new heart? How about a non-human donor? Believe it or not, this has been done before. During the 1980's, doctors transplanted the heart of a baboon heart into a human infant in an attempt to save her life. 'Baby Fae' survived for just 20 days after the controversial operation. The cause of death was organ rejection.

Xenograft

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