Study uncovers mechanism behind primary graft dysfunction

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered the pathways through which autoantibodies—immune proteins that mistakenly attack a person’s own body—leak out of blood vessels and cause primary graft dysfunction in some lung transplant recipients, according to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).

Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is a potentially lethal injury to fragile transplanted lungs that occurs in the first days after a transplant operation and affects more than half of lung transplant recipients. The condition is the leading cause of early post-transplantation morbidity and mortality. Read more from Medical Xpress.