High frequency of IL-4 producing helper T lymphocytes associated with a reduced incidence of heart allograft rejection

• Published in: Transplant international 2000, Vol.13 Suppl 1, p.S216-S224
• Main Authors: Van Hoffen, E, Polen, E, Robertus-Teunissen, M, De Jonge, N, Lahpor, J R, Gmelig-Meyling, F H, De Weger, R A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomarkers - blood; Graft Rejection - epidemiology; Graft Rejection - immunology; Heart Transplantation - immunology; Histocompatibility Testing; HLA-A Antigens - immunology; HLA-B Antigens - immunology; HLA-DR Antigens - immunology; Humans; Incidence; Interleukin-2 - blood; Interleukin-4 - blood; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic - immunology; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer - immunology; Time Factors; Tissue Donors; Transplantation, Homologous
• ISSN: 0934-0874; 1432-2277
• DOI: 10.1007/s001470050328

The reduction in the frequency of rejection episodes several months after heart transplantation (HTX) correlates with the development of donor-specific nonresponsiveness. This is reflected in a reduced frequency of donor-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTL) in the peripheral blood. We investigated whether the reduced CTL frequency and the incidence of rejection episodes coincided with a change in the frequency of either IL-2- or IL-4-producing helper T lymphocytes (HTL). We measured the frequency of HTL before and at several time points after HTX in the blood of ten recipients, using limiting dilution analysis for IL-2 and IL-4. In most patients, HTL frequencies dropped immediately after transplantation, but returned to pre-HTX values later after transplantation. No consistent decrease or increase in frequencies was observed long after HTX. In contrast to IL-2, the HTL frequencies for IL-4 before transplantation were significantly higher in patients without post-HTX rejection episodes requiring treatment than in patients with such episodes. This phenomenon was observed for the in vitro responses towards both donor and third-party cells. In conclusion, relatively high frequencies of IL-4-producing T cells may have a beneficial effect on the outcome of human heart transplantation, because they are associated with a reduced incidence of rejection episodes after transplantation.