New approaches to the management of acute and chronic cardiac allograft rejection

There are still many problems to be faced in the field of heart transplantation. Acute and chronic rejection are still the major medical obstacles. In this review, we describe recent research in this field undertaken in our laboratory. The induced intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and MHC class II antigen resulting from rejection can be visualized in vivo by radioimmunoscintigraphy. This non-invasive method is sensitive for detecting early rejection and allows quantitative assessment of rejection. Short-term administration of monoclonal antibodies to ICAM-1 and leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) results in an indefinite acceptance of cardiac allografts by induction of antigen-specific tolerance, as evidenced by acceptance of the secondary skin allografts, The characteristics and possible mechanisms of this tolerance induction are discussed. Immunohistopathologic features of graft coronary arteriopathy are shown. Adhesion molecules, cytokines, and growth factors are associated with intimal hyperplasia and phenotypic transformation of smooth muscle cells in the allograft coronary arteries. Dramatic reduction in this intimal hyperplasia was demonstrated by antisense gene therapy targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 2 kinase. We hope that these investigations will contribute to the improvement of the management of patients who undergo heart transplantation.