Abstract
A single dose of rabbit antithymocyte globlin (ATG) was given as the sole immunosuppressive therapy in a model of strong MHC barrier rat heart allotransplantation. PVG/c hearts transplanted to Wistar/Kyoto (WKy) rats resulted in long-term surviving (LTS) grafts and cellmediated lympholysis (CML) unresponsiveness in 50% of the animals. The effects of ATG treatment on the peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were studied by flow cytometry. The absolute T-lymphocyte levels decreased to less than 5% and were normalized after 2 weeks. CD8-positive cells were normalized within 1 week, whereas CD4- and CD5-positive cells remained low. Rats with LTS grafts had low levels of all T-lymphocyte markers, especially the CD4- and CD5-positive cells. Rats rejecting their grafts showed an eightfold increase in levels of CD8- and CD5-positive lymphocytes and a twofold increase in levels of CD4-expressing lymphocytes. It is concluded that ATG treatment causes the immediate elimination of large lymphoid populations as well as long-lasting immunomodulation detectable in peripheral blood.
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Wramner, L., Robbins, D.S., Kjellsson, B. et al. Blood lymphocyte subsets in ATG-treated and allografted rats. Transplant Int 3, 55–58 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336202
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336202