PROLONGATION OF RAT KIDNEY ALLOGRAFTS BY PRETRANSPLANT ADMINISTRATION OF DONOR ANTIGEN EXTRACT OR WHOLE BLOOD TRANSFUSION COMBINED WITH A SHORT COURSE OF CYCLOSPORINE1

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Abstract
The immunosuppressive effect of the combination of a three day course of cyclosporine with one i.v. injection of 3M KCL-extracted donor antigen or donor blood transfusion was tested across the strong histocompatibility barrier causing rejection within 8 days of kidney transplants from Buffalo (Buf, RT1b) to Wistar-Furth (WFu, RT1u) inbred rats. Administration of 10 mg/kg/day cyclosporine alone for three days (-1, 0, and 1) slightly prolonged graft survival time from 7 to 11 days. The combination of cyclosporine with donor Buf 3M KCl antigen or with a Buf blood transfurion administred one day prior to transplantation caused greater prolongation of graft survival—19 and 25 days, respectively. Neither third-party BN soluble antigen nor BN blood transfustions acted synergistically with cyclosporine to prolong Buf graft survival. Increasing doses of donorsoluble antigen up to an optimal dose of 5 mg proportionately prolonged graft survival; however, administration of 10 mg antigen was less effective than 5 mg. On the other hand, administration of 1 ml of donor blood achieved the maximal effect. Lymphocytes harvested ten days after transplantation from recipients that had received combined therapy with cyclosporine and donor 3M KCl antigen not only displayed specific unresponsiveness to donor stimulator cells in mixed lymphocyte culture, but also specifically suppressed the proliferative response of syngeneic, virgin WFu responder cells to allogeneic donor Buf but not to third-party BN cells. Furthermore, suppressor cell activity was suggested by diminished responses in an in vivo local adoptive mixed lymphocyte culture assay and by prolongation of Buf kidney survival following systemic adoptive transfer. These findings suggest that immunosuppression with cyclosporine permits induction of specific suppressor cells by 3M KCl donor antigen, resulting in specific unresponsiveness to allografts.