Short-term immunosuppressive treatment of the donor ameliorates consequences of ischemia/ reperfusion injury and long-term graft function in renal allografts from older donors.

Background: Grafts from so-called "marginal donors" are increasingly used for organ transplantation. The combination of reduced organ quality and additional inflammatory damages may be particularly detrimental in these grafts. In a previous study, we showed the beneficial effects on long-term graft outcome of "suboptimal" grafts by the induction of heme oxygenase-1.