A pilot study on the immunological effects of oral administration of donor major histocompatibility complex class II peptides in renal transplant recipients.

Oral tolerance is an important physiological mechanism of immune hyporesponsiveness to dietary antigens and the commensal flora of the gastrointestinal tract. Feeding of alloantigens, therefore, has the potential to suppress undesirable immune responses after transplantation. To date, there are no published reports on the effects of such an approach in human transplant recipients.

Human T and natural killer cells possess a functional renin-angiotensin system: further mechanisms of angiotensin II-induced inflammation.

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in the regulation of inflammation and in the progression of chronic kidney disease. Accumulation of inflammatory cells into the renal parenchyma has been a hallmark of chronic kidney disease; however, little is known concerning the presence and the function of RAS elements in T and natural killer (NK) cells. Here is reported a co-stimulatory effect of angiotensin II (AngII) by showing an augmentation of mitogen and anti-CD3-stimulated T and NK cell proliferation with AngII treatment.

Effect of anti-IL-2Ralpha antibody on IL-2-induced Jak/STAT signaling.

Acute allograft rejection is driven by production of cytokines such as interleukin-2 (IL-2) that activate and expand alloreactive T cells by ligating high-affinity IL-2 receptors composed of three subunit chains: alpha, beta, gamma The alpha chain, expressed only on activated T cells, has become an important therapeutic target. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind IL-2Ralpha chains significantly decrease transplant rejection. We examined the ability of the humanized anti-IL-2Ralpha antibody daclizumab to block high-affinity IL-2Rs and interrupt T-lymphocyte signaling.

Avoidance of cyclosporine in renal transplantation: effects of daclizumab, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroids.

Cyclosporine (CsA) has been implicated in both acute and chronic graft dysfunction. The addition of humanized IL-2 receptor antibody daclizumab (DZB) to CsA-based immunosuppression decreases the rate of acute renal transplant rejection. Therefore, 45 patients were evaluated in an immunosuppressive protocol that included DZB, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and steroids without CsA.