Survival of nerve allografts in sensitized rats treated with cyclosporin A.
This study examined the effect of immunosuppressive treatment with cyclosporin A (Cy-A) on the survival of nerve allografts in sensitized rats. Nerve- or skin-sensitized untreated rats rejected a second nerve allograft of the same genotype as the first in an accelerated manner. In this situation, only a few host axons grew into the proximal 1 cm of a 4 cm-long nerve allograft. However, if sensitized rats were given Cy-A (10 mg/kg daily), the second nerve allograft survived, and numerous host axons regenerated through the 4-cm length of the allograft. These results indicated that Cy-A was an effective immunosuppressive agent in sensitized rats. We conclude that, in rats, donor-specific sensitization is not a contraindication to the use of nerve allografts to aid in the repair of injured nerve when Cy-A is used for immunosuppression.
D000818:Animals; D003524:Cyclosporins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D007114:Immunization; D008297:Male; D010543:Peroneal Nerve / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D051381:Rats; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000379:methods
D003524:Cyclosporins