Objective: To study the significance of ICAM-1 in sera of renal allograft recipients in mornitoring of acute rejection.
Methods: The levels of circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (cICAM-1) in sera of 87 renal transplantation recipients, including 29 patients with acute rejection and 8 patients with cyclosprine nephrotoxicity were measured by sandwich-ELISA.
Results: The levels of cICAM-1 were elevated transiently after transplantation. They decreased and reached normal levels within 2 weeks. In the acute rejection episode, the levels of cICAM-1 were significantly higher than those of patients with stable graft function and cyclosporine nephrotoxicity (P < 0.001). The increase of cICAM-1 was seen 1-3 days early than the diagnosis was made. On successful antirejection therapy, the levels of cICAM-1 decreased to normal, but in patients with steroid-resistant rejection, it did not decrease.
Conclusion: The cICAM-1 in sera can be used to estimate the graft function, and it is also useful in prediction and differential diagnosis of acute rejection and prognosis.