Acute rejection and cardiac graft vasculopathy in the absence of donor-derived ICAM-1 or P-selectin.
BACKGROUND
ICAM-1 and P-selectin are molecules that facilitate adhesion of circulating leukocytes to vessel walls. We have investigated the role of donor-derived ICAM-1 and P-selectin in acute and chronic cardiac allograft rejection.


METHODS
C57BL/6J (H-2(b)) mice were used as donors for heterotopic heart transplantation into CBA/Ca (H-2(k)) recipients. The donors were wild-type or homozygous for gene mutations of ICAM-1 or P-selectin. We measured acute rejection in non-immunosuppressed recipients by daily palpation and sacrificed mice at Days 2, 4, and 6 for immunohistochemical analysis. For chronic rejection, recipients received monoclonal antibody against CD4+ T cells. We removed hearts at Days 60 to 62 for histologic assessment of vasculopathy using quantitative morphometry to measure intimal thickening.


RESULTS
Time (days) to rejection was 7.1 +/- 0.57 for wild-type (n = 10), 7.0 +/- 0.71 for ICAM-1 -/- (not significantly different, n = 7) and 6.1 +/- 0.33 (p = 0.001) for P-selectin -/- donors. ICAM-1 deficiency was associated with delayed infiltrate at Day 4 compared with wild-type. In the model of chronic rejection, elastin-positive vessels showed a mean occlusion of 34% +/- 3% in transplanted wild-type hearts; vessels were divided into those showing 0% to 20%, 20% to 50%, and 50% to 100% occlusion. We observed no difference in the number of affected vessels or the amount of vascular thickening in donors lacking ICAM-1 or P-selectin compared with wild-type controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The absence of ICAM-1 or P-selectin in donor tissues neither lengthens the time of allograft survival nor inhibits the vascular lesions associated with chronic rejection. Indeed, the absence of P-selectin may exacerbate alloimmune injury.
Raisky
O
O
National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College School of Medicine, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, Harefield, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
Morrison
K J
KJ
Obadia
J F
JF
McGregor
J
J
Yacoub
M H
MH
Rose
M L
ML
D000818:Animals; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D019007:P-Selectin / Q000502:physiology*; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000473:pathology
D019007:P-Selectin; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1