OBJECTIVES Transplantation is limited by a lack of human organ donors. Organs derived from animals, most likely the pig, represent a potential solution to this problem. For the heart, 90-day median graft survival of life-supporting pig hearts transplanted to nonhuman primates has been considered a reasonable standard for entry into the clinical arena. Overcoming the immune barrier to successful...

PURPOSE To investigate multiparametric functional MRI to characterize acute rejection in a murine allogeneic renal transplant model and evaluate the effect of novel therapeutics. MATERIAL AND METHODS We performed allogeneic and syngeneic orthotopic transplantations (Balb/c to C57Bl/6 and C57Bl/6 to C57Bl/6). Allogeneic Groups (n = 5) were either treated with the anti-CCL2-Spiegelmer (mNOX-E36...

CONTEXT Antibody-based induction therapy plus calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) reduce acute rejection rates in kidney recipients; however, opportunistic infections and toxic CNI effects remain challenging. Reportedly, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have successfully treated graft-vs-host disease. OBJECTIVE To assess autologous MSCs as replacement of antibody induction for patients with end-stage ...

IL-6 mediates numerous immunologic effects relevant to transplant rejection; however, its specific contributions to these processes are not fully understood. To this end, we neutralized IL-6 in settings of acute cardiac allograft rejection associated with either CD8(+) or CD4(+) cell-dominant responses. In a setting of CD8(+) cell-dominant graft rejection, IL-6 neutralization delayed the onset ...

BACKGROUND Chronic humoral rejection is a progressive form of graft injury, with defined diagnostic criteria, the crucial one being the evidence of circulating anti-donor antibodies. These antibodies are mainly directed against human leucocyte antigens (HLA), but other targets have also been described. We previously reported that antibodies against the Glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) enzym...

Differential involvement of CD4+ cells in mediating class I-disparate skin graft rejection was investigated using quantitatively different Kb transgenic mice as donors under conditions in which CD8+ cells were blocked in vivo by administration of anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody (mAb). Tg.H-2Kb-1 and -2 are C3H transgenic mice with 14 and 4 copies, respectively, of the H-2Kb gene. Cell surface expr...

BACKGROUND Regulatory T cells have been suggested to down-regulate the alloimmune response. The aim of this prospective open study was to evaluate the effects of different inductive agents on peripheral blood regulatory T cells in kidney transplant patients and to analyse their association with short-term graft outcome. METHODS Regulatory and effector T cell numbers in peripheral blood were d...

BACKGROUND As significantly more patients die of infection than of rejection after liver transplantation, we have to conclude that overimmunosuppression is common. Our analysis was performed to investigate underlying disease as an appropriate parameter for individually reduced immunosuppression. DESIGN A consecutive series of patients receiving primary liver transplantation was analyzed with ...

Abstract Chronic rejection (CR) is the leading cause of late morbidity and mortality upon lung transplantation (LuTx). Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) has emerged as a promising immunomodulatory prophylactic induction treatment against rejection. We performed in-depth investigation immunological effects ECP in LuTx recipients with diagnosis cystic fibrosis (CF). A pilot clinical trial enroll...