Background: Chronic rejection is a major problem in renal transplantation. Various experimental models have been developed to study vasculopathy of chronic rejection. However, animal models resembling the clinical situation of renal transplantation with combination therapy of basic immunosuppression are not available. The aim of this study was to find an experimental model of a donor-recipient rat strain combination that, under triple drug immunosuppressive treatment (methylprednisolone, cyclosporine, and azathioprine), would develop chronic rejection within a few weeks.
Methods: Renal transplantations were performed in strain combinations of DA-->AO, PVG-->BN, and DA-->BN. In each group, 5-8 animals received triple drug treatment of methylprednisolone (2 mg/kg), azathioprine (2 mg/kg), and cyclosporine (5 mg/kg) daily, 5-10 animals were left without treatment, and 6 syngenic transplantations were performed. The grafts were monitored with ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsies to quantify the inflammation in the graft. Graft histology was performed in parallel and quantified by using the chronic allograft damage index (CADI).
Results: In nonimmunosuppressed animals, irreversible acute rejection with a high peak of inflammation appeared in every strain combination within 5-8 days. In triple drug-treated rats, the DA-->AO combination demonstrated a prolonged acute rejection but no characteristic chronic changes, and the PVG-->BN combination showed practically no inflammation and did not develop any signs of chronic rejection within 60 days (CADI: 2.7+/-2.1), but the DA-->BN combination showed an early, mild inflammatory response 5-7 days after transplantation and developed chronic rejection within 40-60 days after transplantation (CADI: 7.9+/-3.1). Syngenic animals showed no inflammation or histological alterations (CADI: 1.7+/-2.0).
Conclusions: In conclusion, in the DA-->BN combination with triple drug treatment, early mild inflammation was followed by the development of chronic rejection and can be used as an experimental model that resembles the clinical situation in renal transplantation.