Experimental research on immunological rejection of brain tissue allograft]

AIM: To investigate the occurrence of rejection in brain tissue transplantation. METHODS: Ventral mesencephalon(VM) single cell suspensions from newborn rats were allografted into the striata of Parkinson's disease model recipient rats. Surviving animals were sacrificed at 2, 4 and 6 wk after transplantation, and the brain tissues were stained with HE or immunocytochemically to inspect the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and major histocompatibility complex class II antigens (MHC II). RESULTS: High MHC II expression was observed within and around the allografts compared with control at 2 wk after grafting. MHC II expression then decreased at 4 wk and at 6 wk only few immunopositive cells remained. The number of TH positive neurons was low at 2 wk, but increased at 4 and 6 wk after transplantation. CONCLUSION: The brain is not an "immunologically privileged site" and graft rejection exists in brain tissue transplantation. This rejection maybe induced by MHC II. Therefore it is necessary to use immunosuppressants in brain transplantation.