INDUCTION OF DONOR-SPECIFIC TOLERANCE TO RAT ISLET ALLOGRAFTS BY INTRATHYMIC INOCULATION OF SOLUBILIZED SPLEEN-CELL MEMBRANE-ANTIGENS

The development of strategies that will allow permanent survival of is let allograft without continuous host immunosuppression continues to b e the most important goal in the field of pancreatic islet cell transp lantation. In our study, we demonstrated that intrathymic inoculation of allogeneic spleen cell membrane antigens with a single dose of anti -lymphocyte serum induces an unresponsive state that permits survival of a subsequent pancreatic islet allograft to an extrathymic site (ren al subcapsular space). This effect is donor specific and cannot be rep roduced by the intravenous injection of spleen cell membrane antigens. Our results offer a potential approach for establishing donor-specifi c allograft acceptance in adult recipients.