Frequency of T cell expressing Th1 and Th2 associated chemokine receptor in patients with renal allograft dysfunction

Acute rejection of human renal allografts is a frequent, serious posttransplantation complication, occurring in up to 50% of recipients. Leukocyte recruitment is a central feature of acute allograft rejection. Chemokine receptors are expressed on leukocytes in a cell type-specific manner. Recently CCR5+ and CXCR3+ cells have been observed in allograft biopsy specimens of patients undergoing acute cellular rejection (ACR). Herein we investigated the expression of Th1 (CCR5, CXCR3, and CCR2) and Th2 (CCR4, CCR3, and CCR8)-associated chemokine receptors on CD4 and CD8 T-cell populations. We sought to correlate chemokine receptor expression in peripheral blood T-cell subsets with the types of graft dysfunction (biopsy-proven rejections). In the peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell populations of patients with graft dysfunction, we observed a high frequency of Th1-associated chemokine receptors CCR5+ and CCR2+ but not CXCR3.