Morphology of rat cardiac allografts with permanent survival induced by antithymocyte globulin.
In a rat heart transplantation model, permanent graft survival was achieved by anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) treatment of Wistar Kyoto (WKy) recipients before grafting with PVG/c hearts. Nine hearts with palpable and electrocardiographic (ECG) function 8-20 months after transplantation were studied with histological and immunohistochemical methods. The dominating findings were fibrosis, intimal thickening, thrombosis of vessels, cellular infiltrates, and a high number of cells expressing class II antigens. These findings suggest that reactions compatible with a chronic rejection can be found in long-term surviving rat heart allografts. This rat model may thus be used in further studies of a chronic rejection process.
Claesson
K
K
Department of Urology, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Mjörnstedt
L
L
Klareskog
L
L
Larsson
E
E
Olausson
M
M
Söderström
T
T
D000818:Animals; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006085:Graft Survival; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum