Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026
A Rat Graft Rejection Model of Intestinal Transplantation with Exteriorized Ileostomy for Longitudinal Prognosis Assessment
Published on: June 10, 2025
Increased monocyte expression of sialoadhesin during acute cellular rejection and other enteritides after intestine
Chethan Ashokkumar1, Anna Gabriellan, Mylarappa Ningappa
1Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Background:
Sialoadhesin (CD169) facilitates T-cell priming when overexpressed on inflammatory monocytes. Monocyte-derived macrophages prime acute cellular rejection after intestine transplantation (ITx).The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether CD169-expressing activated monocytes associate with or predict ITx rejection.
Methods:
After informed consent (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT No. 01163578), activated CD169+CD14+monocytes were measured by flow cytometry in five normal healthy adult volunteers (group A), and 56 children with ITx sampled cross-sectionally (group B, 26), longitudinally (group C, 18), or during infection/inflammation without rejection (group D: acute enteritis, 9; Helicobacter pylori, 1; Streptococcal pharyngitis 1; and posttransplant lymphoma, 1). Activated monocytes were tested for correlations with donor-specific alloreactivity in simultaneous mixed lymphocyte co-cultures.
Results:
Median age was 3 years (range 0.5-21 yr), and distribution of ITx-alone:combined liver-ITx was 25:31. Higher frequencies (%) of activated monocytes were seen during rejection in group B and infection/inflammation without rejection in group D (58 ± 28 and 73 ± 26), compared with nonrejectors or normal controls (10.6 ± 7.9 or 10.7 ± 6.5, P=0.001). In longitudinal monitoring, rejectors also showed higher activated monocyte frequencies (%) before ITx (64 ± 26 vs. 13.4 ± 8.6, P=0.0007) and during acute cellular rejection (55 ± 28 vs. 22.4 ± 15, P=0.006) when compared with nonrejectors. Activated monocytes correlated significantly with allospecific CD154+T-cytotoxic memory cells (Spearman r=0.688, P=7.1E-05) and CD154+B cells (r=0.518, P=0.005) in ITx recipients without inflammation/infection but not in group D.
Conclusions:
Monocytes overexpress sialoadhesin nonspecifically during ITx rejection and systemic or enteritic inflammatory states. When combined with allospecific T and B cells, this information may differentiate between rejection and other enteritides.
Related Concept Videos
01:40Cell-mediated Immune Responses
01:23Renewal of Intestinal Stem Cells
01:25Selectins