title: Establishment of a chronic rejection model for orthotopic liver transplantation in the rat.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aims to establish a stable chronic rejection model for orthotopic liver transplantation in the rat and to describe the pathological features of this model.
  
  
  METHODS
  The livers from different strains of rats were transplanted in various allogeneic donor-recipient combinations with appropriate syngeneic grafts used as controls. The rats were untreated after surgery (acute rejection model) or treated with cyclosporin A (1 mg/kg) and hydrocortisone (0.75 mg/kg) to establish chronic rejection as determined by rejection activity index scores from pathological examination of liver specimens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acute rejection occurred in all of the untreated recipients of allogeneic orthotopic liver transplants, and all died within 30 days. Among the treated recipients, the combinations of Lewis with brown Norway and dark agouti with Lewis rats developed acute rejection, and no changes characteristic of chronic rejection were observed in the few rats that survived beyond 30 days. In contrast, the treated Lewis recipients of livers from Sprague-Dawley rats exhibited chronic rejection in the liver specimens.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have established an animal model for chronic rejection after transplantation of livers from Sprague-Dawley to Lewis rats under short-term immunosuppression induced by small doses of cyclosporin A and hydrocortisone.
authors.affiliation: The First Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Q M
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013045:Species Specificity; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D006854:Hydrocortisone