ATLANTA, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Chronic alcohol consumption by a lung organ donor promotes scarring and airway injury after transplantation, U.S. researchers found.
Study authors Patrick Mitchell, a post-doctoral researcher, and Dr. David Guidot, a professor of medicine -- both of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta -- said the finding raises questions about human lung donors with a history of alcohol abuse.
About one-sixth of deceased organ donors have a history of heavy alcohol consumption, defined as two or more drinks per day -- triple the rate in the general population -- the United Network for Organ Sharing said.
Mitchell, who designed the animal experiments, says the team's long-term goals are to develop biological tests to measure the effects of alcohol on the lung and ways to compensate for those effects.
"There are reasons to be concerned that chronic alcohol abuse by donors could increase the risk of complications in the transplanted lung," Guidot said in a statement. "Our goal is not to exclude donors, which would be the worst case scenario. Rather, it is to understand the biology, so that we can know how to intervene and make outcomes better."
The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
