DO TRANSPLANTE DE ÓRGÃOS À ENGENHARIA DE TECIDOS: A HISTÓRIA QUE TEM REVOLUCIONADO A MEDICINA E SALVADO VIDAS

Resumo

O transplante de órgãos é uma técnica que revolucionou a medicina e permitiu salvar muitas vidas. As primeiras tentativas de transplantes e procedimentos cirúrgicos foram realizadas em animais. Após obter sucesso nesses casos, aplicou-se esses conhecimentos no ser humano por meio de xenotransplantes. Contudo, a falta de compatibilidade entre o doador e o receptor impediram o sucesso dessa técnica. Buscou-se, então, realizar o feito entre doadores e receptores humanos, entretanto, somente com a melhor compreensão do sistema imunológico e o advento de imunossupressores foi possível obter grandes taxas de êxito nesse procedimento. O objetivo desse artigo é apresentar a história das descobertas relativas ao transplante de órgãos, a pesquisa desenvolvida até a atualidade e o impacto da pandemia pela COVID-19 nesses procedimentos. Hoje, essa técnica está bem consolidada, mas faltam órgãos para suprir a demanda. Uma solução proposta inclui desenvolver artificialmente esses órgãos com as próprias células do paciente por meio da Engenharia de Tecidos.

From organ transplantation to tissue engineering: the history that has revolutionized medicine and saved lives

Abstract: Organ transplantation is a technique that revolutionized medicine and saved many lives. The first attempts at transplants and surgical procedures were performed on animals. After being successful in these cases, this knowledge was applied to humans through xenotransplants. However, the lack of compatibility between the donor and the recipient prevented the success of this technique. It was sought, then, to accomplish the feat between human donors and recipients, however, only with a better understanding of the immune system and the advent of immunosuppressants was it possible to obtain great success rates in this procedure. The purpose of this article is to present the history of the discoveries related to organ transplantation, the research developed to date and the impact of the pandemic by COVID-19 in these procedures. Today, this technique is well established, but there is a lack of organs to supply the demand. A proposed solution includes artificially developing these organs with the patient's own cells through Tissue Engineering.

From organ transplantation to tissue engineering: the history that has revolutionized medicine and saved lives