title: In vitro immunogenicity of allogeneic cardiac valves.
abstract: The immunogenicity of allogeneic cardiac valves (ACV) has not been previously demonstrated in vitro, though valve failure due to tissue degeneration has been attributed to adverse immunological reactions. A novel in vitro assay has been developed in a Brown Norway (BN; RT1n)-Lewis (RT1; donor-recipient) rat model system that demonstrates the immunogenicity of ACVs. A single cell suspension of viable cardiac valve conduit (CVC) cells was obtained by collagenase treatment of BN rat aortic valve conduits. Brown Norway rat CVC cells (5 x 10(4)) and Lewis responder lymphocytes (10(5)) were co-cultured in 96 well plates in RPMI 1640 plus 2.5% (v/v) non heat-inactivated Lewis rat serum and supplements with appropriate controls. Stimulation of responder lymphocytes by CVC cells was measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. The counts obtained between 96-192 h of co-culture in the CVC cell/responder lymphocyte reaction were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of responder cell controls as assessed by analysis of variance. These results indicate the presence of potent immunostimulatory cells in viable ACVs and the possibility of using a sensitive and reproducible in vitro assay to evaluate ACV immunogenicity.
authors: Department of Microbiology, University of Leeds, UK.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Ketheesan
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Ingham
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Gowland
authors: J N
authors: JN
authors: Kearney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous