Intestine
Most drugs enter the body via the intestines. Consequently, researchers need donated human intestines to assess the safety and activity of potential new drugs. Such testing can screen out new compounds with likely serious side effects or those compounds that are disabled by digestive enzymes. Researchers also use donated intestines to assess the toxicity of various foreign substances likely to enter the digestive tract.
Many investigators are particularly interested in using donated intestinal tissue to develop novel tests for the uptake and breakdown of drugs or toxins in the intestinal tract. These tests use intracellular sacs, which are isolated from intestinal cells. These sacs, known as microsomes, contain enzymes and other compounds that affect how much and in what form drugs and other substances in the intestines penetrate the bloodstream.
Researchers need donated intestines delivered within 16 to 24 hours post cross clamp. NDRI will place intestines from donors between age 3 to 60 years old, as long as they were not on a ventilator for greater than 24 hours, had no chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and did not test positive for hepatitis or other infectious disease. Flush and store intestine donations in histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution or in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution.