Cross-species transmission of PERV appears unlikely

Pig organs may offer a solution to the shortage of human donor organs for t ransplantation, but concerns remain about possible cross-species transmissi on of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV). Samples were collected from 160 patients who had been treated with various living pig tissues up to 12 yea rs earlier. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and pr otein immunoblot analyses were performed on serum from all 160 patients. No viremia was detected in any patient. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells fr om 159 of the patients were analyzed by PCR using PERV-specific primers. Mo PERV infection was detected in any of the patients from whom sufficient DN A was extracted to allow complete PCR analysis (97 percent of the patients) . Persistent microchimerism (presence of donor cells in the recipient) was observed in 23 patients for up to 8.5 years.