[Cyclosporin and portal venous inoculation of donor splenocytes prolongs cardiac allograft survival in mice].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of portal venous inoculation of donor splenocytes combined with cyclosporin A (CsA) administration on cardiac allograft survival in mice.


METHODS
Heterotopic cardiac transplantation between fully allogenic NIH/q and BALB/C strain mice was performed. A modified procedure of neonatal heart-in-ear transplantation, as originally described by Fulmer et al, was adopted. We prepared donor splenocytes from NIH/q or third-party C57BL/6 spleens for BALB/C recipients, which were injected preoperatively via the recipient portal vein or the systemic vein 1 week before the heart-in-ear transplantation. The recipients were subsequently treated with a short course of the immunosuppressive agent, CsA (4 mg/kg starting from 7 d before the operation till 5 d after it).


RESULTS
Portal venous inoculation of donor splenocytes combined with CsA significantly prolonged cardiac graft survival (n=6, P<0.05) that reached 31.00+/-3.23 d, and 2 of the 6 allografts survived for more than 35 d. Donor splenocytes injected via the systemic vein or third-party C57BL/6 mice splenocytes injected via the portal vein did not prolong graft survival (P>0.05). CsA alone or portal venous inoculation of donor-specific splenocytes alone also prolonged graft survival (P<0.05), with mean graft survival time of 18.50+/-2.59 d and 16.11+/-1.97 d respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Combination of portal venous inoculation of donor-specific splenocytes and CsA can prolong murine cardiac allograft survival, which is donor antigen-specific.
Zhou
Hai-Kuan
HK
Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Yu
Li-Xin
LX
Zheng
Shao-Bin
SB
Min
Zhi-Lian
ZL
Zhu
You-Hua
YH
D000818:Animals; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D011169:Portal Vein; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology*; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine