Peripheral blood allogeneic microchimerism in lung and cardiac allograft recipients

Nancy L. Reinsmoen, Annette Jackson, Marshall Hertz, Kay Savik, Spencer Kubo, Sophia Ormaza, Leslie Miller, Cynthia McSherry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have been investigating two parameters, donor antigen-specific hyporeactivity and peripheral blood allogeneic microchimerism, to determine whether these parameters will predict a chronic rejection-free state and which recipients may be candidates for steroid withdrawal. We have identified donor antigen-specific hyporeactivity for 33% (16/48) of lung and 23% (11/47) of heart recipients. For both organ groups, the hyporeactive subgroup experienced a lower incidence of chronic rejection. The probability of donor antigen-specific hyporeactivity predicting a chronic rejection-free state is 100% for lung and 91% for heart recipients. We have identified peripheral blood allogeneic microchimerism for 77% (20/26) of lung and 36% (9/25) of heart recipients tested at 12-18 months posttransplant. Donor antigen- specific hyporeactivity correlates with a critical level of donor cells in lung recipients; the probability of high peripheral blood allogeneic microchimerism levels predicting a chronic rejection-free state in lung recipients is 100%. The results in heart recipients are not as clear with a short-, but not long-term, trend of higher chimerism levels correlating with the development of donor antigen-specific hyporeactivity. These results illustrate the usefulness of immune parameters to predict long-term graft outcome in an organ-specific manner.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)306-309
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Leukocyte Biology
Volume66
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Chronic rejection
  • Donor antigen-specific hyporeactivity
  • Long-term graft outcome

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology
  • Cell Biology

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