Open AccessQuantitative Short-Tandem Repeat Analysis of Recipient-Derived Cells as an Additional Tool for Diagnosing Cardiac Allograft Rejection
Author(s) -
Martin Pichler,
Jan Beckendorf,
Elke Winter,
R. Kleinert,
Daniela Kniepeiss,
Gerald Höefler
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.45
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1534-6080
pISSN - 0041-1337
DOI - 10.1097/tp.0b013e3181cab05c
Subject(s) - transplantation , medicine , haematopoiesis , pathology , in situ hybridization , hematopoietic stem cell transplantation , stem cell , immunology , biology , gene , genetics , messenger rna
Diagnosis of cardiac allograft rejection is currently based on histologic exploration of endomyocardial biopsies. Moderate interobserver reproducibility in the estimation of number and distribution of inflammatory cells leads to disagreements in the assignment of rejection grades. Short-tandem repeat (STR) analysis is routinely used after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation to determine the proportions of donor cells. We compared the amount of recipient-derived cells with the histopathologic grade of rejection in cardiac allografts to determine whether this method might be useful for the assessment of rejection episodes.