Induced Coma, Death, and Organ Transplantation: A Physiologic, Genetic, and Theological Perspective.
Cezar-Ivan ColițăDenissa-Greta OlaruDaniela ColițăDirk M HermannEugen ColițăDaniela GlavanAurel Popa-WagnerPublished in: International journal of molecular sciences (2023)
In the clinic, the death certificate is issued if brain electrical activity is no longer detectable. However, recent research has shown that in model organisms and humans, gene activity continues for at least 96 h postmortem. The discovery that many genes are still working up to 48 h after death questions our definition of death and has implications for organ transplants and forensics. If genes can be active up to 48 h after death, is the person technically still alive at that point? We discovered a very interesting parallel between genes that were upregulated in the brain after death and genes upregulated in the brains that were subjected to medically-induced coma, including transcripts involved in neurotransmission, proteasomal degradation, apoptosis, inflammation, and most interestingly, cancer. Since these genes are involved in cellular proliferation, their activation after death could represent the cellular reaction to escape mortality and raises the question of organ viability and genetics used for transplantation after death. One factor limiting the organ availability for transplantation is religious belief. However, more recently, organ donation for the benefit of humans in need has been seen as "posthumous giving of organs and tissues can be a manifestation of love spreading also to the other side of death".
Keyphrases
- genome wide
- oxidative stress
- primary care
- copy number
- dna methylation
- cardiovascular disease
- squamous cell carcinoma
- gene expression
- signaling pathway
- genome wide identification
- resting state
- cell therapy
- bone marrow
- endothelial cells
- high glucose
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- stem cells
- coronary artery disease
- multidrug resistant
- genome wide analysis
- brain injury
- functional connectivity
- cell proliferation
- stress induced