Accelerated skin graft rejection in humans preimmunized with homologous peripheral leukocytes.

Delayed intradermal sensitivity to homologous white blood cells has been described in humans rejecting full thickness skin homografts (1). The reaction at the site of the challenge leukocyte was greatest at 18 to 24 hours against the cell suspensions obtained from the skin donor. It was noted, however, that lesser reactions were consistently elicited to similarly prepared and simultaneously injected leukocytes obtained from donors other than the sensitizing skin donor. There was no recipient response to injections of autologous leukocytes, homologous erythrocytes or homologous plasma. Biopsy sections taken at peak reaction times were similar to early tuberculin responses. It was postulated that the skin erythema and induration were a manifestation of an antigen-antibody reaction, in which antibodies developed against the skin homograft were capable of also reacting with shared antigen (s) within or upon the peripheral white blood cell. To explain the lack of specificity of the skin response, it was assumed that there is a distribution of common transplantation antigens in the human, as has been shown by Berrian and Jacobs in the mouse (2). The present experiment supports this supposition and suggests that transplantation immunity in the human is not as specific a phenomenon as has been previously proposed (3).