title: Prolonged survival of rat whole-limb allografts treated with cyclophosphamide, granulocyte colony-stimulation factor and FK506.
abstract: We evaluated the efficacy of a new protocol using cyclophosphamide (CYP), granulocyte colony-stimulation factor (G-CSF) and FK506 to induce high level chimerism following rat whole-limb allotransplantation. The present study investigated the dose requirement and toxicity of CYP monotherapy in inducing stable bone marrow chimerism. Fifty-six whole-limb allotransplants from LacZ transgenic rats to LEW rats were performed. CYP at a dose of 100 mg to 200 mg/kg was injected 2 days before transplantation and G-CSF of 25 microg/kg/day was given for 4 days. FK506 was used for 28 days at 1 mg/kg/day. The level of chimerism was evaluated by semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The survival of limb allografts in recipients treated with CYP of 150 mg/kg was significantly prolonged to 107 days. The onset of rejection was more prolonged to 158 days in recipients with CYP of 200 mg/kg, with two of eight grafts surviving >1 year and three recipients (38%) showed chronic, nonlethal GVHD with a high level of bone marrow chimerism. Limb allografting could contribute to chimerism in the recipient. Pretreatment with CYP had the dose-dependent effects of prolonging the survival of limb allografts. A CYP dose of 200 mg/kg appears to significantly prolong limb graft survival but frequently causes chronic nonlethal GVHD in the longer surviving recipients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan. marumatu@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: You-Xin
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Tsunemitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gondo
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005121:Extremities / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D006085:Graft Survival; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007763:Lac Operon; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014180:Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D016559:Tacrolimus