title: ABO-incompatible allotransplantation as a basis for clinical xenotransplantation.
abstract: The 8th Congress of the International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA), held in Goteborg in September, 2005, immediately followed the 2nd International Symposium on ABO-Incompatibility in Transplantation, both congresses organized by Michael Breimer and Lennart Rydberg. The Proceedings of the Symposium on ABO-Incompatibility in Transplantation have been published (Xenotransplantation 2006; 13 (2)). The present paper provides an overview of a workshop held at the 8th Congress of the IXA, and highlights the immunological concepts emerging from ABO-incompatible allotransplants and discusses them in relation to xenotransplantation. Using specified immunomodulatory protocols, ABO-incompatible solid organ allotransplantation has become a clinical reality for a small number of patients over the last two decades. ABO-incompatible adult kidney and infant heart transplants have similar patient and graft survivals as their ABO-compatible counterparts. In contrast, ABO-incompatibility is present in up to 30% of all patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants in the absence of specific immunomodulation, without affecting overall survival. Consequently, ABO-incompatible solid organ transplants and hematopoietic stem cell transplants may serve as in vivo models to elucidate the immunological mechanisms of accommodation and/or tolerance in the clinical setting. Because of similarities in the immunological hurdles that need to be overcome, knowledge obtained from ABO-incompatible allotransplantation might further promote advances in the field of xenotransplantation. The similarities and differences between ABO-incompatible allotransplantation and xenotransplantation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Transplantation Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stussi
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: David K C
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Jörg D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Seebach
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000276:immunology; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D014181:Transplantation Immunology; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000379:methods*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System