Heart and spleen twin grafts in rats

The technical details of a new procedure for the simultaneous transplantation of the spleen and the heart in rats are described. One hundred sixty-four such twin grafts from LEW to ACI rats and vice versa were performed. Seventeen animals were followed postoperatively without additional immunologic manipulations. There is a definite change in rejection pattern in terms of timing as well as intensity when heart and spleen twin grafts are compared with single cardiac grafts. A delay and mild form of rejection of twin grafts were observed especially in the strain combination of LEW to ACI. No graft-versus-host reaction occurred. There was no perfect correlation of the cardiac and splenic allografts in regard to their survival time. When the cardiac allograft arrested, however, the spleen was found to be rejected as well in all cases. In three cases a selective survival of the heart over the spleen was observed. Thus, the cardiac allograft can be used as a simple but not completely reliable indicator of the functional state of both grafts.