Reversal of Post-Thymectomy Wasting Disease in Mice by Multiple Thymus Grafts

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Abstract
Summary: Reversal of post-thymectomy wasting in mice has been achieved by subcutaneous (s.c.) or intraperitoneal (i.p.) grafting of five thymuses from syngeneic, hemiallogeneic or allogeneic donors. The i.p. route was more effective in salvaging the wasted animals. In some instances a single i.p. graft proved to be effective. The reconstituted animals were able to reject skin homografts from third party strains. When syngeneic thymus donors were used, the spleen cells of restored animals had significant graft-vs.-host capability. When hemiallogeneic or allogeneic donors were used, the pattern of immunologic reconstitution varied with the strain combination and the site of thymus implants. If skin of the donor strain was rejected, the thymus grafts were usually not viable at autopsy, and the graft-vs.-host reactivity was appreciable and of host type. When skin of the donor strain was accepted, viable thymus grafts were noted at autopsy, and graft-vs.-host reactivity of host type was significant but reduced, presumably a reflection of the chimeric state. In certain allogeneic combinations, both donor and host components were detected in discriminating spleen assays.

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