Fa. Klatter et al., SIMULTANEOUS TRANSPLANTATION AND INTRATHYMIC TOLERANCE INDUCTION - A METHOD WITH CLINICAL POTENTIAL, Transplantation, 60(11), 1995, pp. 1208-1210
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.