HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lerch, R. A. Articles by Sobel, B. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lerch, R. A. Articles by Sobel, B. E.

Monitoring of Cardiac Antirejection Therapy with In-111 Lymphocytes

Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Steven R. Bergmann, PhD, Cardiovascular Div., Washington Univ. School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid, Box 8086, St. Louis, MO 63110.

ABSTRACT

To determine whether lymphocytes labeled with indlum-111 permit noninvaslve assessment of antirejection therapy, we performed 40 allogeneic heterotopic cardiac transplants in rats. Antirejection therapy with azathioprine (30 mg/kg) and sodium salicylate (200 mg/kg) prolonged contractile function of the graft from 7.5 ± 1.5 (s.d.) days in controls to 19.4 ± 3.7 days in treated animals. Six to seven days after transplantation, autologous lymphocytes labeled with In-111 were injected intravenously in seven untreated and eight treated rats. Scintigraphy and organ counting were performed 24 hr after administration of labeled cells. At sacrifice all grafts in untreated rats exhibited contractile failure, whereas grafts in all treated rats were beating well. Transplants in untreated recipients exhibited marked accumulation of In-111 lymphocytes detectable scintigraphically, with ratios of 7.7 ± 1.9 for the activity in the transplant over that in the native heart (H_T/H_O), as obtained by well counting. In contrast, accumulation was not scintigraphically detectable in transplants of treated rats, with H_T/H_O ratios of 2.6 ± 1.8 (p < 0.005). The results suggest that imaging with In-111-labeled lymphocytes will permit noninvasive assessment of antirejection therapy.