Detection of Circulating Heart-Reactive Antibody in Human Heart Transplants

Abstract

Immunofluorescent heart-reactive antibody was demonstrated in serum samples from three patients with cardiac transplants, one of whom is herewith presented in detail. The presence of this antibody correlated well with subsequent episodes of cardiac rejection. Increasing doses of immunosuppressive therapy had a direct effect on the disappearance of the circulating antibody from the serum samples of these patients. Up to the present, all signs and tests for cardiac rejection have relied upon the detection of the signs and effects of cardiac dysfunction, which of course means that significant damage has already occurred. Assay of heart-reactive antibody may be an early and sensitive indicator of cardiac rejection in patients with cardiac allografts.