SEROTYPING FOR HOMOTRANSPLANTATION .12. OCCURRENCE OF CYTOTOXIC ANTIBODIES FOLLOWING KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION IN MAN

A total of 231 serum samples from 41 patients before and after first and second kidney transplants were investigated for the presence of cytotoxic antibodies. After transplantation 11 of 29 patients had cytotoxic antibodies in contrast to 4 of 21 patients before transplantation. In 10 patients who had their renal grafts removed because of rejection, 9 had demonstrable cytotoxic antibodies. Patients with cytotoxins generally tended to have worse kidney function and transplant failure than patients without cytotoxins (P < 0.005). Moreover, 11 of 14 transplants done in patients with preformed cytotoxins resulted in early transplant failure. From these findings, it appears that humoral cytotoxic antibodies are associated with kidney transplant rejections and that they either act directly on the transplant or serve as indicators of a state of presensitization. © 1968 by The Williams and Wilkins Co.