Chronic Antibody Mediated Rejection of Renal Allografts: Pathological, Serological and Immunologic Features in Nonhuman Primates

The pathogenesis of late renal allograft loss is heterogeneous and difficult to diagnose. We have analyzed renal allografts in nonhuman primates to determine the relationship between alloantibodies and the graft pathology of late graft loss. Seventeen Cynomolgus monkeys were chosen from among those on several protocols for renal allotransplantation with mixed chimerism induction so that animals with and without alloantibodies were included. All animals received transient CD154 blockade and short-term cyclosporine treatment until day 28. Serial blood samples were tested for alloantibodies. Protocol biopsies and autopsy kidneys were scored for pathology and C4d deposition. Group 1, defined by complete lack of C4d deposition (24 tissue samples; 8 recipients), had no detectable alloantibodies (33 serum samples; 1-7 samples per recipient) and no evidence of chronic rejection. Three survived greater than 2 years with normal function and histology. Group 2, defined as having C4d deposition in peritubular capillaries, all made alloantibodies (100%), and most grafts later showed chronic allograft glomerulopathy (89%), and/or arteriopathy (89%). All grafts in Group 2 failed (3-27 months). Pathologic lesions of typical of chronic rejection in humans develop in monkeys, correlate with antecedent alloantibodies/C4d deposition and predict chronic rejection rather than durable accommodation.     

Macrophage Depletion Suppresses Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in Mice

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a major source of late posttransplant mortality. Although numerous cell types are implicated in the pathogenesis of CAV, it is unclear which cells actually induce the vascular damage that results in intimal proliferation. Because macrophages are abundant in CAV lesions and are capable of producing growth factors implicated in neointimal proliferation, they are leading end-effector candidates. Macrophages were depleted in a murine heterotopic cardiac transplant system known to develop fulminant CAV lesions. C57BL/6 hearts were transplanted into (C57BL/6 x BALB/c)F(1) recipients, which then received anti-macrophage therapy with intraperitoneal carrageenan or i.v. gadolinium. Intraperitoneal carrageenan treatment depleted macrophages by 30-80% with minimal effects upon T, B or NK cells as confirmed by flow cytometry and NK cytotoxicity assays. Carrageenan treatment led to a 70% reduction in the development of CAV, as compared to mock-treated controls (p = 0.01), which correlated with the degree of macrophage depletion. Inhibition of macrophage phagocytosis alone with gadolinium failed to prevent CAV. Macrophages may represent the end-effector cells in a final common pathway towards CAV independent of T-cell or B-cell alloreactivity and exert their injurious effects through mechanisms related to cytokine/growth factor production rather than phagocytosis.     

Antibody to intercellular adhesion molecule 1 protects the kidney against ischemic injury.

The pathophysiology of ischemic acute renal failure is complex, and the role of leukocyte adhesion in this process is not well defined. A monoclonal antibody (mAb) against intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (anti-ICAM-1), administered at the time of bilateral renal ischemia in the rat, prevented both functional impairment and histologic changes of acute renal failure. Plasma creatinine measured (mg/dl) 24 hr after 30 min of ischemia was 0.61 +/- 0.05 in the anti-ICAM-1-treated animals compared with 2.4 +/- 0.14 (P < 0.0001) in the vehicle-treated ischemic group. Forty-eight hours after ischemia, creatinine values were 0.46 +/- 0.05 and 2.03 +/- 0.22 (P < 0.0001) in anti-ICAM-1 and vehicle-treated groups, respectively. A low dose of anti-ICAM-1 that was itself nonprotective, when given with partially protective doses of a mAb against lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (anti-LFA-1), acted synergistically to prevent renal failure. Anti-ICAM-1 mAb also protected the kidney when administered 0.5 or 2 hr but not 8 hr after restoration of blood flow and when the ischemic period was extended to 40 min. Ischemia-induced increases in tissue myeloperoxidase, a marker of neutrophil infiltration, were mitigated with anti-ICAM-1 treatment. Thus, anti-ICAM-1 mAb protected the kidney against ischemic renal failure, even when the antibody was administered after the ischemic period. These results suggest a critical role for leukocytes and adhesion molecules in the pathophysiology of ischemic injury and may have important therapeutic implications.     

Effect of a high affinity aluminosilicate sorbent on prevention of aflatoxicosis in growing pigs

Adding 0.5% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate to diets formulated with aflatoxin-contaminated corn significantly reduced the detrimental effects of the mycotoxin on live weight gains and feed intake. Hepatocellular changes normally associated with aflatoxin consumption could not be detected histopathologically in liver sections from pigs fed contaminated diets plus the aluminosilicate sorbent.     

Buthionine sulfoximine-mediated depletion of glutathione in intracranial human glioma-derived xenografts

D-54 MG, a human glioma-derived continuous cell line growing as subcutaneous or intracranial xenografts in athymic mice, was found to be sensitive to the effects of D,L-buthionine-(SR)-sulfoximine, a selective inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase. Intraperitoneal administration of one dose of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO, 5 mmol/kg) resulted in depletion of total intracellular glutathione to 57 and 47% of control 12 hr, and 73 and 23% of control 24 hr, after BSO in subcutaneous and intracranial xenografts respectively. Concurrent measurement of total glutathione in the contralateral (non-tumor-containing) cerebral hemisphere in mice bearing intracranial D-54 xenografts demonstrated insignificant depletion of glutathione. Multiple doses of BSO, at 12-hr intervals, resulted in further depletion to 27% (s.c.) and 16.5% (i.c.) of control 12 hr following the final dose of BSO. Quantitative analysis of BSO delivery to xenograft and contralateral brain tissue revealed transfer constants, K1, of 15.8-24.1 x 10(-3) and 2.4 x 10(-3) ml.g-1.min-1 for xenograft and "normal" brain respectively. This highly selective depletion of glutathione in neoplastic tissue versus surrounding non-neoplastic host tissue may have therapeutic implications for the rational use of chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic intervention.     

Characterization of lymphokine fibronectin from guinea pig lymphoid cell culture supernatants.

Fibronectins (FN) in guinea pig lymphoid cell culture supernatants have been studied using a panel of polyclonal and monoclonal anti-FN antibodies to clarify their relationship with macrophage agglutination factor (MAggF), an inflammatory lymphokine sharing many properties with this family of high molecular weight glycoproteins. MAggF contained cellular FN epitopes, and was reversibly bound by antibodies specific for cellular FN. Enzyme-linked immunoassay and inhibition of MAggF activity by monoclonal anti-plasma FN antibodies revealed immunoreactive FN in guinea pig lymphoid cell culture supernatants to share three epitopes with plasma FN and to lack a fourth epitope present in plasma FN. Immunoreactive FN in gelatin-affinity purified lymph node cell culture supernatants was polydisperse; MAggF activity (Mr 410 kD) was associated with only 13% of total immunoreactive FN. Although a low molecular weight FN fragment (Mr 67 kD) was associated with MAggF activity in salt-fractionated peritoneal exudate culture supernatants, it was not possible to generate MAggF activity by limited proteolysis of MAggF-inactive, high molecular weight FN in lymph node cell culture supernatants. We conclude that MAggF is a cellular FN containing a number of epitopes in common with plasma FN and suggest it may be a unique species of cellular FN produced by T lymphocytes involved in initiating delayed hypersensitivity reactions.     

Nano-C60 cytotoxicity is due to lipid peroxidation

This study examines the biological effects of water-soluble fullerene aggregates in an effort to evaluate the fundamental mechanisms that contribute to the cytotoxicity of a classic engineered nanomaterial. For this work we used a water-soluble fullerene species, nano-C₆₀, a fullerene aggregate that readily forms when pristine C₆₀ is added to water. Nano-C₆₀ was cytotoxic to human dermal fibroblasts, human liver carcinoma cells (HepG2), and neuronal human astrocytes at doses 50 ppb (LC₅₀=2–50 ppb, depending on cell type) after 48 h exposure. This water-soluble nano-C₆₀ colloidal suspension disrupts normal cellular function through lipid peroxidation; reactive oxygen species are responsible for the membrane damage. Cellular viability was determined through live/dead staining and LDH release. DNA concentration and mitochondrial activity were not affected by the nano-C₆₀ inoculations to cells in culture. The integrity of cellular membrane was examined by monitoring the peroxy-radicals on the lipid bilayer. Subsequently, glutathione production was measured to assess the cell's reaction to membrane oxidation. The damage to cell membranes was observed both with chemical assays, and confirmed physically by visualizing membrane permeability with high molecular weight dyes. With the addition of an antioxidant, l-ascorbic acid, the oxidative damage and resultant toxicity of nano-C₆₀ was completely prevented.