EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF CRYOPRESERVED ALLOGENEIC TRANSFER OF VESSEL - PRELIMINARY-REPORT

It has long been known that the antigenicity of tissues is depressed w hen they are kept at a very low temperature. In this study, Lewis rats and Brown Norway (B.N.) rats were used because these species are sign ificantly dissimilar at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Fem oral arteries were harvested from Lewis rats, frozen while lowering th e temperature in a stepwise fashion to -70 degrees C. After three week s of cryogenic storage, the arteries were transplanted into Lewis and B.N. rats. At various times from the first to the twelfth week after s urgery, grafted vessels were observed, and pathological and electron m icroscopic studies were carried out. The vessels were found to be in g ood condition at the end of the 12 week observation period. These resu lts strongly suggest that prolonged cryopreservation of vessels makes allotransplantation without immunosuppression possible. (C) Wiley-Liss , Inc.