KINETICS OF UNRESPONSIVENESS INDUCED BY A SHORT COURSE OF CYCLOSPORIN A

Abstract

The kinetics of unresponsiveness induced by a short course of cyclosporin A was studied using accessory heart allografts in rats. Skin grafts from the heart donor or a 3rd-party donor were performed at several different times after heart transplantation. The results of the skin and heart grafts demonstrated that the properties of the unresponsive state induced by short-term cyclosporin A therapy changed with time so that the following 3 different stages could be recognized: stable, nonspecific immunosuppression, weak, moderately specific immunosuppression and strong, stable donor-specific immunosuppression.