title: Hepatic Failure After Pig Heart Transplantation Into a Baboon: No Involvement of Porcine Hepatitis E Virus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  After transplantation of pig hearts into baboons, a particularly high increase of liver parameters was observed in 1 animal. To evaluate whether porcine hepatitis E virus (HEV) was involved in the pathological changes, the donor pig and the recipient baboon were screened for the presence of HEV.
  
  
  METHODS
  Screening for HEV was performed using highly sensitive and specific PCR methods as well as immunological screening for HEV-specific antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HEV was not detected in the donor pig or the baboon recipient. At necropsy, histopathological examination of liver sections showed acute coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes and hemorrhage, but minimal inflammatory cell activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The liver failure observed in the recipient animal was not due to transmission of porcine HEV. Liver failure could have been caused by the onset of cardiac failure related to delayed transplant rejection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan-Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Abicht
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mayr
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reichart
authors.affiliation: Walter Brendel Centre of Experimental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Plotzki
authors.affiliation: Department of HIV and Other Retroviruses, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Güthoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Almuth
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falkenau
authors.affiliation: Chair of Livestock Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kind
authors.affiliation: Walter Brendel Centre of Experimental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Denner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000209:etiology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D010215:Papio; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000821:virology; D013552:Swine; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous