| Abstract: | Background: Hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a parasitic disease in humans and caused by the Echinococcus multilocularis (E.m). Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) may be the only effective treatment for end-stage hepatic AE . however, in some AE patients, extrahepatic E.m cannot be completely eliminated after OLT. it is not known whether the immunological changes caused by E.m evasion may influence the rejection.
Methods: The rat molde of AE was established by injection the E.m suspension into abdomen of Brown Norway (BN) rats after Three months later.,.In the experimental group, the liver were transplanted from a LEW rats to an E.m-infected BN rat. In the control group, transplantation from a LEW rats to a healthy BN rats. Liver tissue and peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after OLT. Liver tissue was analyzed after hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining; number of CD4, CD8, and CD28 on peripheral blood cells was detected by flow cytometry; and expression of the chemokine fractalkine (Fkn) was detected by reverse RT-PCR. IL-10 was measured in the serum by ELISA.Eight BN rats was retained for observeing survival time in every group.
Results: The survival time of recipients in the experimental group were prolonged compared with those in the control group. the rejection occurred later and was milder in the experimental group. percentage of CD4, CD8, , CD28 T-cells and Fkn mRNA expression were lower ,The serum IL-10 levels were higher in the experimental group than that in the control group,respectively.
Conclusions: Acute rejection after OLT was attenuated in the rats with E.m infection, and the recipients` survival time was prolonged. E.m may play a role in this process by elevating IL-10 secretion,decreasing the effector T cells,Inhibiting the expression of Fkn, which lead to reduce the inflammatory cells infiltration into the liver . |
