Survival of pig-to-rhesus corneal xenografts prolonged by prior donor             bone marrow transplantation.
The aim of the present study was to explore the survival of pig-rhesus corneal             xenografts following donor bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Wuzhishan pigs were             used as donors and rhesus monkeys as recipients for corneal xenotransplantation.             Twelve rhesus monkeys were divided into two groups. Group 1 received intravenous             injection of cyclophosphamide (CP) followed by pig bone marrow cell transplantation,             while group 2 was used as a control and only received intravenous CP injection.             All xenografts were evaluated using a slit-lamp microscope. The immunological             status of the recipients following transplantation, including the formation of             chimerism, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and immunoglobulin and complement in             the serum, was analyzed. Two rhesus monkeys in each group were sacrificed for             corneal histopathology examination. The mean survival time was 36.0±4.7 days in             group 1 and 17.7±3.2 days in group 2. The mean chimerism percentage in group 1             at week 1 was 5.20±1.02%, but decreased with time and was <1% after week 3.             MLR demonstrated that immune reactivity to donor spleen cells in group 1 was decreased             following surgery. Immunoglobulin and complement levels in the serum revealed             a decreasing trend. Histopathological examination demonstrated that the corneal             xenografts in group 1 had minimal inflammatory cell infiltration and no eosinophil             infiltration. Survival of corneal xenografts may be prolonged by prior BMT, suggesting             that immune reactivity to donors is suppressed, and is highly dependent on chimerism             formation.
Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Science Laboratory, Beijing Tongren Eye Centre, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100730, PR China.
Ying
Y
Jie
Limin
L
Liu
Zhiqiang
Z
Pan
Li
L
Wang
D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D046528:Chimerism; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000494:pharmacology; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000097:blood; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D013552:Swine; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
D007136:Immunoglobulins; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D003165:Complement System Proteins