title: Pretransplant replacement of donor liver grafts with recipient Kupffer cells attenuates liver graft rejection in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Rejection of liver grafts is a difficult issue that has not been resolved. Preoperative replacement of liver cells in the graft with cells from the intended recipient may attenuate rejection. We investigated whether preoperative transplant of recipient bone marrow cells (BMCs) to the donor replaced liver allograft cells and attenuated rejection.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a rat model of allogeneic liver transplant (LT) from Dark Agouti (DA) to Lewis (LEW) rats. In BMC group, DA rats received BMC transplants from LacZ-transgenic LEW rats at 1 week before LT. In the control group, DA rats received no preoperative treatment. We evaluated graft damage at 7 days after LT and the survival of the recipient rats.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rats in the BMC group experienced prolonged survival that was abrogated by the administration of gadolinium chloride to donors at 24 h before LT. Serum concentrations of total bilirubin and hyaluronic acid on day 7 were significantly lower in the BMC group, and histopathological analyses revealed that rejection of the liver graft was attenuated. X-gal staining and immunohistostaining of the liver graft revealed that BMCs engrafted in the sinusoidal space differentiated into Kupffer cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preoperative transplant of recipient BMCs to LT donors replaced donor Kupffer cells and attenuated post-LT rejection, indicating that this strategy may increase the success of LT.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic and Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Tomohide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Kanta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jobara
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hata
authors.forename: Tatsuaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuruyama
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uemoto
mesh_terms: D064591:Allografts; D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D023421:Models, Animal; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014019:Tissue Donors; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Kupffer cells; bone marrow cells; chimerism; liver transplant; xenotransplantation