Clinical Use of Rabbit Antihuman Lymphocyte Globulin in Cadaver-Kidney Transplantation

Abstract

Twenty-six consecutive recipients of cadaver-kidney transplants were treated with rabbit antihuman lymphocyte globulin (ALG) in addition to conventional immunosuppressive therapy. Each of the first 10 of these recipients has been followed for more than 12 months. The one-year transplant survival in this group was 90 per cent. Rabbit ALG administration was well tolerated. Most patients had no symptoms related to ALG injections. There were four acute transplant rejection episodes in the first 10 patients and four episodes in 16 subsequent patients followed for more than four months. All acute rejection episodes occurred six weeks or more after transplantation, and all were easily and promptly reversed by a temporary increase in the dose of steroid therapy. Immediate, hyperacute rejection by preformed antibodies was the only cause of kidney transplant loss in the entire series.