THE PATTERN OF REJECTION AFTER COMBINED STOMACH, SMALL-BOWEL, AND PANCREAS TRANSPLANTATION IN THE RAT

This study was designed to investigate whether in combined stomach, sm all bowel, and pancreas transplantation allograft rejection occurs in the individual organs concomitantly and with the same intensity. Heter otopic enbloc transplantation of the stomach, small bowel, and pancrea s was performed in a Lewis-to-Brown Norway rat combination. Group 1 an imals received no immunosuppressive therapy while animals in group 2 w ere treated with cyclosproin (10 mg/kg body weight, orally) daily. Gra fts were histologically evaluated on the 5th (subgroups 1a and 2a) and 10th (subgroups 1b and 2b) postoperative days. The degree of rejectio n was defined as moderate, intermediate, or severe according to predef ined criteria. The results indicate that the small bowel is more susce ptible to rejection than either the stomach or the pancreas. Mucosal b iopsies of the stomach are unlikely to provide a reliable guide to rej ection in the small bowel.