Open AccessLong‐term survival of rat cardiac allografts by intrathymic plus portal venous injections of donor bone marrow cells and short‐term tacrolimus immunosuppression
Author(s) -
Fukada J.,
Kurimoto Y.,
Aitouche A.,
Li S.,
Pham S. M.,
Ruiz P.,
Zeevi A.,
Kubota T.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
transplant international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.998
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1432-2277
pISSN - 0934-0874
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-2277.2001.tb00065.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immunosuppression , tacrolimus , term (time) , bone marrow transplant , bone marrow , surgery , urology , bone marrow transplantation , gastroenterology , transplantation , physics , quantum mechanics
Intrathymic (IT) or portal venous (PV) injection of donor antigens has been shown to prolong organ acceptance in low responder rat strain combinations. We determined whether a combination of these strategies would prolong cardiac allograft survival in high responder combinations. Wistar Furth rats received 1 × 10 8 ACI rat bone marrow cells (BMCs) via IT, intravenous (IV), PV, IV ± PV, IT ± IV or IT ± PV route at the time of ACI cardiac transplantation. Without tacrolimus (FK), all grafts were acutely rejected. With FK immunosuppression (1.5 mg/kg per day, I. M., days 0–4), single BMC injection did not increase graft survival beyond 93 days, whereas 70% of grafts survived indefinitely (> 150 days) when IT and PV BMCs were combined. Animals receiving IT and PV BMCs also had less allograft vasculopathy. Thus, IT and PV injections of donor BMCs under a brief course of FK synergistically improve cardiac allograft survival.