Abstract:Objective:To study the influence of combined anti-CD-40L and low dose CsA immunotherapy on the induction of immune tolerance in orthotopic liver transplantation rats.
Methods :Recipients were divided into the following groups. Group A,SD→SD; Group B,SD→Wistar without any treatment; Group C,SD→Wistar with CsA therapy from d1 to d5; Group D,SD→Wistar with CsA from d1 to d5 and anti-CD40L mAb in d0 and d2, and Group E,SD→Wistar with CsA from d1 to d5 and anti-CD40L mAb in d0 and d2 plus autotransfusion before operation. The recipient survival time, histologic changes of allograft and the level of cytokines in peripheral blood were observed.
Results:The survival period of recipients in Groups A, D and E was significantly longer than that in Groups B and C. The acute rejection response in Groups D and E decreased prominently. The serum level of IL-2 and IFN-γ in Group B were significantly higher than those in other groups, while the serum level of IL-4 and IL-10 in Groups D and E was elevated much more than those in Group B(P＜0.05).
Conclusions:The combined anti-CD-40L and low dose CsA immunotherapy with or with autotransfusion can prolong graft survival time, suppress acute rejection and induce high expression of Th2 cytokines, and is beneficial to long-term survival of recipients and liver graft.