Human BioSystems transplants frozen kidney

November 2, 2005

Human BioSystems Inc. said on Wednesday it successfully transplanted a rat kidney that had been frozen for three months in a solution the company created.

Palo Alto-based Human Biosystems (OTCBB:HBSC) said the kidney had been frozen at a temperature of 80 degrees below zero centigrade in its patent-pending HBS Sub-Zero Solution.

"While today's organ preservation technology limits preservation times to only hours, Human BioSystems was able to freeze a rat kidney for 3 months, preserved in the HBS Sub-Zero Solution," Dr. Luis Toledo, Human Biosystems' chief medical officer said in a prepared statement.

The organ was warmed to room temperature before the kidney was transplanted into the animal, which was able to pass urine for one hour before the animal was sacrificed for further tests, Dr. Toledo said.

A key development was overcoming the possible damaging effects of freezing by limiting the expansion of ice to a small fraction of what normally occurs when water freezes. The solution also inhibits the formation of ice crystals in the kidney, which consists primarily of water.

Dr. David Winter, Human Biosystems' president, said that when human donor organs become more widely available for transplantation, freezing might become a means to bank organs for future use.

Copyright © 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

This article posted November 23, 2005.