Open AccessTolerance and chimerism and allogeneic bone marrow/stem cell transplantation in liver transplantation
Author(s) -
Shengli Wu,
Cheng-En Pan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
world journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.427
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 2219-2840
pISSN - 1007-9327
DOI - 10.3748/wjg.v19.i36.5981
Subject(s) - immune tolerance , transplantation , immunosuppression , stem cell , immunology , transplantation chimera , bone marrow , medicine , peripheral tolerance , liver transplantation , central tolerance , biology , haematopoiesis , immune system , microbiology and biotechnology , hematopoietic cell
The liver has particular tolerogenic properties that allow its spontaneous acceptance in some animal species. Liver structure is considered to favor a tolerogenic environment. The peripheral tolerance mechanisms also play a role in spontaneous tolerance to liver graft. In a clinical setting, the main challenge nowadays facing liver transplantation is minimization of immunosuppression with the goal of donor-specific tolerance. Mechanisms involved in tolerance to transplanted organs are complex and partly unknown. A significant mechanism in tolerance induction is chimerism. Chimerism can be induced through transplantation of allogeneic donor bone marrow/stem cells under appropriate host conditioning. This review focuses on the tolerance mechanisms in liver transplantation and highlights the role of chimerism and allogeneic bone marrow/stem cell transplantation in tolerance development.