Accommodation in organ transplantation

Abstract

Purpose of review We review recent insights into the mechanisms and prevalence of accommodation. Accommodation refers to an acquired resistance of an organ graft to humoral injury and rejection. Recent findings Accommodation has been postulated to reflect changes in antibodies, control of complement and/or acquired resistance to injury by antibodies, complement or other factors. We discuss the importance of these mechanisms, highlighting new conclusions. Summary Accommodation may be a common, perhaps the most common, outcome of organ transplantation and, in some systems, a predictable outcome of organ xenotransplantation. Further understanding of how accommodation is induced and by what mechanisms it is manifest and maintained could have a profound impact on transplantation in general and perhaps on other fields.