Microchimerism does not correlate with survival of murine cardiac allografts

The development of microchimerism was evaluated at different time points after infusion of a mixed population of bone marrow and spleen cells from (BALB/c x C57B1/6)F1 mice in the presence or absence of a cardiac transplant. Microchimerism was observed in the spleen, bone marrow and thymus of transplanted BALB/c mice even after graft rejection. in the absence of transplantation, donor cells persisted especially in the thymus. the results show that despite augmentation of graft survival after donor cell infusion compared to nontreated controls, the development of microchimerism did not sustain cardiac semihistocompatible grafts. Moreover, the persistence of donor cells in the thymus in both situations suggests a role for this organ in the increased graft survival in our model.Univ São Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Immunol, BR-05508900 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Paulista Sch Med, Div Nephrol, São Paulo, BrazilInst Heart, InCor, Transplantat Lab, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Div Clin Immunol & Allergy, São Paulo, BrazilFdn Zerbini, São Paulo, BrazilBrazilian Minist Sci & Technol, Inst Invest Immunol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Paulista Sch Med, Div Nephrol, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Monitoring of soluble HLA class I in liver transplant recipients: Correlation with transplant-related complications

Univ São Paulo, Sch Med, Lab Transplantat Immunol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Liver Unity, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Clin Med, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Pre- and Posttransplant Monitoring of Alloantibodies by Complement-Dependent Cytotoxicity and Luminex Methodologies in Liver Transplantation

Background. This study evaluated the influence of circulating anti-HLA antibodies on outcomes of 97 liver allografts from deceased donors. Methods. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibody screening was performed by both complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and multiparameter Luminex microsphere-based assays (Luminex assay). Results. The agreements between T- and B- cell CDC and Luminex assays were 67% and 77% for pre- and posttransplant specimens, respectively. Graft dysfunction was not associated with either positive pretransplant CDC or Luminex panel-reactive antibody (PRA) values. Likewise, positive posttransplant T- or B- cell CDC PRA values were not associated with graft dysfunction. In contrast, posttransplant Luminex PRA values were significantly higher among patients with graft dysfunction compared with subjects with good outcomes (P = .017). Conclusion. Posttransplant monitoring of HLA antibodies with Luminex methodology allowed identification of patients at high-risk for poor graft outcomes

Non-Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibodies Reactive with Endothelial Cells Could Be Involved in Early Loss of Renal Allografts

Preformed donor-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies have been associated with allograft dysfunction and failure. However, recipients of HLA-identical kidneys can develop acute humoral rejection, implicating putative pathogenic antibodies that are directed against non-HLA antigens. We investigated the presence of endothelial cell reactive antibodies in 11 patients who experienced early loss of their transplanted kidneys owing to humoral rejection and 1 loss from renal venal thrombosis. We examined the potential efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin to block the binding of these antibodies, as previously suggested for anti-HLA antibodies