Immature CD4⁺ dendritic cells conditioned with donor kidney antigen prolong renal allograft survival in rats / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Allogeneic transplant rejection is currently a major problem encountered during organ transplantation. The dendritic cell (DC) is the most effective powerful known professional antigen-presenting cell, and recent studies have found that DCs can also induce immune tolerance, and avoid or reduce the degree of transplant rejection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of transfused immature CD4(+) DCs on renal allografts in the rat model.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In this study, we induced CD4(+) immature DCs from rat bone marrow cells by a cytokine cocktail. The immature CD4(+) DCs were identified by morphological analysis and then the suppressive activity of these cells conditioned with donor kidney antigen was evaluated in vitro and in vivo.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immature CD4(+) DCs conditioned with donor kidney antigen possessed immunosuppressive activity in vitro and they were able to prolong renal transplant survival in an allograft rat model in vivo.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Our study provides new information on efficacious renal transplantation, which might be useful for understanding the function of immature CD4(+) DCs in modulating renal transplant rejection and improving clinical outcome in future studies.</p>

An improved method for rat intubation and thymectomy / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Thymokidney has been reported as an approach for a vascularized thymus for transplantation to induce donor specific tolerance. A completely thymectomized model which ensures that the obtained thymus is not injured has not been developed yet and it would be useful for evaluating autologous thymokidney function in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adult Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 150 - 300 g (n = 30) underwent non-invasive intubation with the assistance of an improved self-made wedge-shaped cannula made from a 2-ml plastic syringe and transillumination from the anterior tracheal area by an operation spotlight. The rats then received a thoracotomy while their breathing was supported by a small animal ventilator, and both lobes of the thymus were entirely extirpated under a 10× microscope. The postoperative survival rate of the rats was recorded, and changes in the T-cell reservoir from 9 of 30 rats within 21 days after surgery were monitored using flow cytometry. The complete thymectomy rate was confirmed by autopsy and histological examination on 21 days post-operation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The postoperative survival rate of rats was 100%. The exsected thymus was free of injury and the rate of complete thymectomy was 100%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This model has a stable survival rate and complete thymectomy is able to be achieved. The obtained thymus tissue is free of injury and can be used for transplantation.</p>

Effect of pre-transplantation hemoglobin concentration on prognosis of renal transplant recipients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>For the renal transplant recipients, anemia is one of the common complications and becomes a major medical issue before transplantation. Haemoglobin (Hb) is used as a prognostic indicator, although the optimal pre-transplantation Hb concentration associated with positive prognosis is still controversial. The aim of this study was to detect the optimal Hb concentration on predicting the graft survival and function.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective cohort study was conducted by reviewing the medical records of the patients who received renal transplantations at our center from January 2004 to June 2008. Patients were divided into two groups: high Hb group (≥ 100 g/L, n = 79) and low Hb group (< 100 g/L, n = 63). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding sex, age, blood type and tissue types. Renal function among the two groups was measured and compared. Panel reacting antigens (PRA) of all the recipients were negative. The effect of preoperative hemoglobin concentration on the postoperative renal function recovery in both groups was further analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 14 acute rejection episodes occurred, including 5 patients in the high Hb group (7.9%) and 9 in the low Hb group (11.4%, P > 0.05). The serum creatinine level at one-year post-transplantation of the low Hb group was significantly higher than that of the high Hb group ((117.8 ± 36.3) µmol/L vs. (103.1 ± 35.5) µmol/L, P < 0.05). For one-year actuarial patient and graft survival, incidence of delayed graft function (DGF), serum creatinine concentrations at 1, 3, 6 months post-transplantation, the incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, post-transplantation anemia (PTA) and post-transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) of both groups, there were no statistically significant differences.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pre-transplantation Hb concentration has significant effect on one-year creatinine concentration, but can not significantly affect acute rejection episodes, DGF, PTA, CMV infection and PTDM.</p>