Abstract
ABSTRACT
Human intestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are difficult to model because existing animal and in vitro systems do not capture the intestine’s integrated vascular, immune, and metabolic complexity. Here, we establish a custom normothermic machine perfusion platform that maintains surgically resected human intestinal tissue for up to 72 hours under near-physiological conditions. Discarded specimens from patients with nonmalignant intestinal diseases, including IBD and diverticulitis, were continuously perfused at 37°C with real-time hemodynamic and metabolic monitoring. Perfusion preserved tissue viability, mucosal architecture, epithelial integrity, oxygen consumption, metabolic activity, and vascular patency. Daily perfusate sampling enabled longitudinal profiling and experimental modulation of inflammatory mediators, revealing patient-specific immune states. This long-duration platform bridges reductionist in vitro models and clinical disease, enabling mechanistic studies of intestinal inflammation and future testing of personalized therapies in intact patient-derived tissue.