It is the first recorded case where a cornea transplant has been successfully sustained through the use of eye drops without the application of immunosuppressant drugs. Image:RDA)
SEOUL, Jul. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — On July 19, the Rural Development Administration (RDA) announced that with the collaboration of professor Yoon Ik Jin and his team, a cornea transplant from a pig to a Philippine monkey has shown no side effects after 234 days.
It is the first recorded case where a cornea transplant has been successfully sustained through the use of eye drops without the application of immunosuppressant drugs.
The RDA stated that the procedure was a partial thickness corneal transplant, a medical procedure that is also administered to humans.
The transplant was done on the monkey’s right eye. After the surgery, the monkey was given one dose of eye drops once a week, and showed no side effects or symptoms. Two months later, the dosage was stopped, with the monkey going 190 days before its eye started to show ill effects. It was then treated with antibiotics and given doses of eye drops.
The “donor” of the cornea was a pig specially developed by the National Institute of Animal Science. The institute developed a number of pigs that were intended to serve as donors and thus altered and added certain genetic material to counterbalance possible negative effects. The institute has so far developed three pigs, with the second being the cornea donor for the monkey of note.
The institute’s efforts have not been in vain, as the second pig’s cornea has lasted three times longer than the first’s.
Encouraged by the results, the research team has transplanted the second pig’s other cornea into another monkey, with no side effects thus far. The team is reportedly planning to carry out another cornea transplant using the third and most recently developed pig.
The successful procedures puts Korea in a position to take advantage of a potential boom market for cornea transplants. Neighboring China, which has the largest number of patients with vision problems in the world, is leading the world in the development of cornea transplant research, and already took a step into the future when it legalized corneal transplants from pigs to humans.
A spokesperson for the RDA said that with regards to the successful pig and monkey procedure, concerted efforts will be made to make technologies like cornea transplants part of the future growth market.
By S.B.Woo(editor@koreabizwire.com)
