Mitochondrial transplantation is a medical procedure that moves whole energy-producing cell structures from healthy tissue into damaged tissue to address failing cellular energy. It has reached patients with heart injury, stroke or an inherited energy disorder, but the record is thin, with the clearest results from a single center. Most aging claims rest on animals alone; outside registered trials, it remains an experiment being sold as a treatment. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| High-sensitivity cardiac troponin | Below 14 ng/L | Heart muscle injury from delivery |
| Creatine kinase | 30–200 U/L | Muscle injury from the biopsy |
| Serum lactate | 0.5–1.5 mmol/L | Whether tissue oxygen use improves |
| Lactate-to-pyruvate ratio | Below 15 | Separates a respiratory chain block from other causes of raised lactate |
| High-sensitivity C-reactive protein | Below 1.0 mg/L (ideally below 0.5) | Inflammatory response to procedure or material |
| Complete blood count and coagulation panel | Within laboratory reference interval | Post-procedure safety screen |
| Serum creatinine with estimated filtration rate | Above 90 mL/min/1.73 m² | Kidney injury from contrast or procedure |
| Blood mitochondrial DNA copy number | No established target; track change from baseline | Persistence of delivered mitochondria in blood cells |
| Blood mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy | No established target; with an inherited mutation, track the fall from baseline | Primary efficacy measure in inherited mitochondrial disease |
| Growth differentiation factor 15 | No agreed target; above roughly 1,200 pg/mL indicates mitochondrial stress | Mitochondrial disease activity |
Cadence: Baseline before delivery; safety tests at 24 h, 48 h and 7 days; functional and inflammatory markers at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months; mitochondrial genome measures at 6 and 12 months where relevant. No schedule validated beyond one year.