COMPARISON OF T-CELL RESPONSES IN PATIENTS WITH A LONG-TERM SURVIVINGRENAL-ALLOGRAFT VERSUS A LONG-TERM SURVIVING LIVER ALLOGRAFT - ITS A DIFFERENT WORLD

The aim of the present study was to analyze whether acquired transplan tation tolerance had developed in patients with a long-term surviving rend or liver allograft. Analysis of antidonor cytotoxic T cell precur sor frequencies was performed in 31 renal allograft recipients and 9 l iver allograft recipients with good graft function 2 years after trans plantation. The results demonstrated that, before transplantation, nor mal antidonor T cell responses were generated in both groups of patien ts. Two years after transplantation, donor-specific CTL nonresponsiven ess had developed in a minority of tile renal transplant recipients. F n contrast, 8 out of 9 liver transplant recipients showed donor-specif ic mixed lymphocyte culture and CTL nonresponsiveness. These findings indicate that development of donor-specific T cell nonresponsiveness i s not a common event after kidney transplantation, whereas liver trans plantation seems to induce, at least in vitro, a state of donor-specif ic T cell nonresponsiveness.