title: Failure to prolong pancreatic islet allograft survival in rats with donor-specific blood transfusions and immunosuppression.
abstract: The effects on pancreatic islet allograft survival of donor-specific blood transfusions (DST) in combination with pre- and posttransplant immunosuppression were studied. A total of 12 groups of rats (n = 105) with chemically induced diabetes underwent islet allotransplantation. Multiple DST or third-party blood transfusions (TPT) were given prior to transplantation. Pretransplant immunosuppression consisted of azathioprine and prednisolone, and low-dose cyclosporin A was used for posttransplant immunosuppression. TPT, as well as separate or combined pre- and posttransplant immunosuppression without blood transfusions, did not prolong islet allograft survival. DST resulted in either primary nonfunction of the islet allografts or a markedly decreased islet allograft survival. These findings contrast with the beneficial effect of DST on whole-organ allograft survival in rats previously described by others.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van der Vliet
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: van der Hem
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Sutherland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D006085:Graft Survival; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous