COMPARISON OF QUADRUPLE IMMUNOSUPPRESSION AFTER LIVER-TRANSPLANTATIONWITH ATG OR IL-2 RECEPTOR ANTIBODY

Treatment with monoclonal IL-2 receptor antibodies has been successful ly used for immunosuppressive induction therapy following organ transp lantation in the recent past. The present study was conducted to compa re for the first time a cyclosporine-based quadruple immunosuppressive regimen including a monoclonal IL-2 receptor antibody or ATG as induc tion therapy after orthotopic liver transplantation. In two groups of 33 patients each, postoperative survival, graft biopsies, liver functi on enzymes, and the clinical courses after OLT were evaluated. Our res ults indicate that monoclonal IL-2 receptor antibody therapy as part o f a quadruple immunosuppressive regimen is better tolerated and is at least as effective as ATG in prevention of allograft rejection followi ng OLT. Furthermore, our data indicate that a slightly better liver fu nction in general and a lower incidence of rejection reactions necessi tating treatment could be observed in the group of patients treated wi th the monoclonal IL-2 receptor antibody. This study provides evidence that monoclonal IL-2 receptor antibody therapy may be a useful tool f or the immunosuppressive induction therapy following clinical orthotop ic liver transplantation.