Thymus transplantation

Transplantation tolerance and autoimmunity after xenogeneic thymus transplantation.

Successful grafting of vascularized xenografts (Xgs) depends on the ability to reliably induce both T cell-independent and -dependent immune tolerance. After temporary NK cell depletion, B cell suppression, and pretransplant infusion of donor Ags, athymic rats simultaneously transplanted with hamster heart and thymus Xgs developed immunocompetent rat-derived T cells that tolerated the hamster X...

Xenogeneic Thymus Transplantation Pathogenesis of Autoimmunity After

Thymus transplantation for complete DiGeorge syndrome: European experience

BACKGROUND Thymus transplantation is a promising strategy for the treatment of athymic complete DiGeorge syndrome (cDGS). METHODS Twelve patients with cDGS underwent transplantation with allogeneic cultured thymus. OBJECTIVE We sought to confirm and extend the results previously obtained in a single center. RESULTS Two patients died of pre-existing viral infections without having thymopoi...

Postnatal thymus transplantation with immunosuppression as treatment for DiGeorge syndrome.

Complete DiGeorge syndrome is a fatal congenital disorder characterized by athymia, hypoparathyroidism, and heart defects. Less than half of patients are 22q11 hemizygous. The goal of this study was to assess if immune suppression followed by postnatal thymus transplantation would lead to T-cell function in 6 infant patients who had host T cells at the time of transplantation. All infants had f...

Use of allograft biopsies to assess thymopoiesis after thymus transplantation.

Thymus allograft biopsies were performed in athymic infants with complete DiGeorge anomaly after thymus transplantation to assess whether the thymus allograft tissue was able to support thymopoiesis. Forty-four consecutive infants were treated with postnatal cultured thymus allografts. Thirty biopsies and six autopsies evaluating the allograft site were obtained in 33 infants, 23 of whom surviv...