European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Vol 11, 902-909, Copyright © 1997 by European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
Donor-specific cytotoxic lymphocyte activity from bronchoalveolar lavage during acute canine lung allograft rejection
Y Sekine, T Fujisawa, Y Saitoh, T Takeda, S Yoshida, N Urabe, M Baba and Y Yamaguchi
Department of Surgery, Institute of Pulmonary Cancer Research, Chiba University School of Medicine, Chuo-ku, Japan.
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relationship between acute lung rejection
and donor-specific cytotoxic activity (DSCA) in recipient's lymphocytes
obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). METHODS: A total of 26 mongrel
dogs underwent left lung allotransplantation. Dogs received either no
immunosuppressive treatment (group I), cyclosporine (group II), or
cyclosporine and methylprednisolone for evidence of acute rejection (group
III). DSCA was measured by a 51Cr release assay, using lymphocytes from BAL
samples as effector cells and 51Cr-labeled donor skin fibroblasts as target
cells. The pathologic findings of the transplanted lungs were classified
according to the working formulation for classification and grading of
pulmonary rejection. In addition, the degree of cellular infiltration in
the perivascular, peribronchial, interstitial, and intraalveolar areas was
determined based on an infiltration score. RESULTS: DSCA in BAL samples was
elevated during mild, moderate and severe acute rejection. The accuracy of
the diagnosis of mild or moderate rejection was 92.3% at effector:target
(E:T) ratios of 100:1 and 50:1. The DSCA in the BAL fluid and the total
infiltration score were correlated closely with correlation coefficients of
0.859 and 0.828 at E:T ratios of 100:1 in group I and group II dogs,
respectively. Lung aeration improved and DSCA decreased with
methylprednisolone therapy in three of four dogs with grade 2 rejection.
CONCLUSION: There is a direct relationship between the DSCA in BAL fluid
and the degree of tissue damage caused by acute rejection. The DSCA can be
detected by a 51Cr release assay which may hold promise for future clinical
applications.