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Orthotopic liver/small bowel transplantation in rats: A microsurgical model inducing tolerance
Author(s) -
Meyer D.,
Thorwarth W.M.,
Otto C.,
Gassel H.J.,
Timmermann W.,
Ulrichs K.,
Thiede A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
microsurgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.031
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1098-2752
pISSN - 0738-1085
DOI - 10.1002/micr.1030
Subject(s) - medicine , liver transplantation , immunosuppression , transplantation , cirrhosis , gastroenterology
Liver cirrhosis in patients with short bowel syndrome is successfully treated in humans by simultaneous liver/small bowel transplantation. However, until now, a clinically relevant experimental rat model for this procedure has not existed. We therefore established a protocol that, for the first time in rats, allows the simultaneous transplantation of arterialized liver and small bowel into an orthotopic position. Short‐term immunosuppression induced not only allograft acceptance but tolerance (as demonstrated by indicator heart/skin transplantation). The immunosuppressive dose required to achieve this result was dramatically less than that of protocols for successful small bowel transplantation alone. Immunohistochemistry detected a transient rejection crisis before tolerance. During this crisis, apoptotic recipient‐type T lymphocytes, mainly CD8+ cells, accumulated in the liver but not in the small bowel allograft. The initiation of T‐cell apoptosis is one possible explanation for the specific immunosuppressive effect of the liver allograft, which also supports the simultaneously transplanted small bowel allograft in our model.