Acute Transplantation Rejection

Excerpt

Transplantation is the only mode of therapy for most end-stage organ failure affecting kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and pancreas. Acute transplantation rejection occurs days to weeks after transplantation. The immune system can see the grafted organ as foreign and attacks it; destroying it and leading to rejection. The difference between hyperacute and acute graft rejection lays in the presence of preformed antibodies that cause rejection immediately. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching is 1 of 2 critical methods for preventing rejection of allografts, and the other one is the serum crossmatch. Using immunosuppressive drugs, for example, azathioprine and corticosteroids can prevent acute rejection. The induction of tolerance in alloreactive donor cells is a goal of transplantation and a method to prevent the rejection of organs and tissues. The deficit of donor organs limits the success of transplantation in humans, and an alternative is the use of pigs (xenotransplantation), and living donations is another way of tackling the problem.