Abstract
Adjuvant treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) for liver-transplant recipients has been reported to reduce the frequency of acute rejection episodes. To explore this effect further, UDCA was given to rats in an experimental heart transplantation model, with or without concomitant immunosuppressive treatment with antihymocyte globulin (ATG). UDCA was administered orally 7 days before and 14 days after transplantation. Rats treated with UDCA alone or in combination with ATG were compared with untreated controls and ATG-treated recipients. Adjuvant treatment with UDCA was found to induce prolonged graft survival and increase the amount of transplant tolerance in rats. Serum levels of bilirubin and aminotransferases were not altered irrespective of the UDCA dose given. The results indicate that UDCA has an immunomodulatory capacity that might not be restricted to the liver, but also might apply to other transplanted organs as well.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
O’Brien C, Senior JR, Batta AK (1989) Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment produces marked clinical and biochemical amelolioration of primary sclerosing cholangitis. Gastroenterology 96: A640
Calmus Y, Gane P, Rouger P, Poupon R (1990) Hepatic expression of class I and class II major histocompatibility complex molecules in primary biliary cirrhosis: effect of ursodeoxycholic acid. Hepatqlogy 11:12–15
Colton T (1974) Statistics in medicine, 1st edn, Little Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusettes
Galle PR, Theilmann L, Raedsch R, Otto G, Stiehl A (1990) Ursodeoxycholate reduces hepatotoxicity of bile salts in primary human hepatocytes. Hepatology 12:486–491
Ghezzi C, Zuin M, Battezzati PM, Podda M (1987) Effects of ursodeoxycholate, taurine and ursodeoxycholate plus taurine on serum enzym levels in patients with chronic hepatitis. Hepatology 7:1110
Heumann DM, Komito SF, Pandak WM, Hylemon PB, Vlahcevic ZR (1989) Tauroursodeoxycholic acid protects against cholestatic and hepatocytolytic toxicity of more hydrophobic bile salts. Gastroenterology 96: A607
Hoffman AF (1990) Bile acid hepatotoxicity and the rationale of UDCA therapy in chronic cholestatic liver disease: some hypotheses. In: Paumgartner G, Stiehl A, Barbara L, Roda E (eds) Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 13–33
Leuschner U, Dieues HP, Güldütunana S, Birkenfeld G, Leuschner M (1990) Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) influences immune parameters in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Hepatology 12:957
Mjörnstedt L, Olausson M, Lindholm L, Brynger H (1984) Induction of longterm heart allograft survival in the rat by rabbit ATG. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 74:193–199
Olausson M, Mjörnstedt L, Lindholm L, Brynger H (1984) Non-suture organ grafting to the neck vessels in rats. Acta Chir Scand 150:463–467
Olausson M, Mjörnstedt L, Lindholm L, Brynger H (1984) Suppressor cells in the antihymocyte globulin induced transplantation tolerance in the adult rat. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 75:184
Olausson M, Mjörnstedt L, Wramner L, Lindholm L, Söderström T, Brynger H (1988) Characteristics of the induction phase of antithymocyte-globulin induced heart allograft tolerance in the rat. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 86:131
Persson H, Friman S, Scherste’n T, Svanvik J, Karlberg I (1990) Ursodeoxycholic acid for prevention of acute rejection in liver transplant recipients. Lancet 336:52–53
Poupon R, Chretien Y, Poupon RE, Baiter F, Calmus Y, Darnis F (1987) Is ursodeoxycholic acid an effective treatment for primary biliary cirrhosis? Lancet 1:834–836
Poupon RE, Balkau B, Eschwége E, Poupon R, UDCA-Study group (1991) A multicenter, controlled trial of ursodial for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. The N Engl J Med 324: 1548–1554
Ullrich D, Rating D, Schröter W, Hanefeld F, Bircher J (1987) Treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid renders children with biliary atresia suitable for liver transplantation. Lancet 2: 1324
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Olausson, M., Mjörnstedt, L., Wramner, L., Persson, H., Karlberg, I., Friman, S. (1992). Adjuvant treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid prevents acute rejection in rats receiving heart allografts. In: Kootstra, G., Opelz, G., Buurman, W.A., van Hooff, J.P., MacMaster, P., Wallwork, J. (eds) Transplant International Official Journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77423-2_158
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77423-2_158
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-55342-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-77423-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive