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Updated: Aug 7, 2025
In Vitro and In Vivo Assessment of T, B and Myeloid Cells Suppressive Activity and Humoral Responses from Transplant Recipients
Published on: August 12, 2017
Induction of liver transplant immune tolerance in an outbred rat strain model using tacrolimus
Min-Jung Park1,2, Hyun Sik Na1,2,3, Young-Shin Joo4
1The Rheumatism Research Center, Catholic Research Institute of Medical Science, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, 06591, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Orthotopic liver transplantation is the only option for patients with end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Post-transplant immunosuppressive therapy is important to prevent graft failure. We investigated the effectiveness of tacrolimus (FK506) and their mechanisms for liver transplant immune tolerance in an outbred rat LT model.
Results:
To investigate the therapeutic effect of the FK506 on outbred rat LT model, FK506 and postoperative therapy were administered subcutaneously once or twice daily to transplanted rats. Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses were conducted for all groups. The regulation of inflammatory cytokine signaling in the spleen was analyzed by flow cytometry. FK506 attenuated allograft rejection and increased survival in rat orthotopic liver transplantation models. The FK506-treated group had reduced serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase. Furthermore, FK506 decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines and the activation of pathogenic Th1 and Th17 cells in the liver.
Conclusions:
Taken together, we revealed that FK506 ameliorated strong allograft rejection in outbred liver transplantation model by anti-inflammatory effect and inhibitory peroperty of pathogenic T cells.
