SIMULTANEOUS TRANSPLANTATION AND INTRATHYMIC TOLERANCE INDUCTION - A METHOD WITH CLINICAL POTENTIAL

It has been shown that donor-specific tolerance to cardiac allografts can be induced by pretreating the prospective recipient with injection s of donor splenocytes (intrathymically) and antilymphocyte serum (int raperitoneally) weeks or days before the actual transplantation. This procedure, however, lacks clinical relevance in the case of cadaver do nors due to the obligatory interval between the start of the tolerance induction protocol and transplantation. We have tried to devise a pro tocol in which this interval is eliminated, thus allowing allotranspla ntation simultaneously with tolerance induction. Our results show that simultaneous cardiac allotransplantation and intrathymic tolerance in duction by intrathymic injection of donor splenocytes and treatment wi th antilymphocyte serum is indeed possible in the PVG to AO high-respo nder rat strain combination, provided that low doses of cyclosporine a re given intramuscularly on day 1, 2, and 3 after transplantation, As we now are able to combine the start of tolerance induction with the a ctual allotransplantation, this procedure may indeed have clinical pot ential.