Abstract
Background: Donor-specific blood transfusion(DSBT) before organ transplantation has been demonstrated to prolong allograft survival; the mechanism of this effect has remained unclear. Only a few researches have been performed on this subject in our country. Material and Method: To investigate the effect of DSBT, we selected 5 donor recipient combinations using rats of pure strain such as PVG, ACI, and LEW. One ml of donor whole blood was transfused to each recipient through the femoral vein 7 days prior to transplantation. The donor heart was transplanted to the recipient's abdominal vessels heterotopically using modified Ono and Lindsey's microsurgical technique. Five transplantations were done for each combination. Postoperatively, donor heart beat was palpated everyday through the recipent's abdominal wall. Rejection was defined as complete cessation of donor heart beat. Result: The allogeneic heart grafts transplanted from PVG strain to ACI strain(PVG ACI) without DSBT were acutely rejected(mean survival 10.2 days). With pretransplant DSBT, the cardiac allografts in PVG ACI and LEW PVG combinations survived indefinitely(more than 100 days), those in ACI PVG combination survived 12 to 66 days(mean 31.8 days), those in PVG LEW survived 8 to 11 days(mean 10.0 days), and those in ACI LEW survived 7 to 9 days(mean 8.0 days). In brief, DSBT prior to heart transplantation was definitely effective in PVG ACI and LEW PVG combinations and moderately effective in ACI PVG combination, but not effective in PVG LEW and ACI LEW combinations. Conclusion: DSBT prior to heart transplantation showed variable effects, but might prolong cardiac allograft survival indefinitely in some donor recipient strain combinations. The mechanism of this effect should be further investigated.