Brief communicationMycophenolate mofetil decreases antibody production after cardiac transplantation
Section snippets
Methods
The study used sera from 86 patients from three centers who had been part of a double-blind, active controlled trial of 650 patients from 28 centers.12 The patients were randomized to receive MMF (3,000 mg/day) or azathioprine (1.5 to 3 mg/kg per day) in addition to CsA and corticosteroids. Sera were collected before transplant and at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months after transplant. Patients were tested for anti-HLA antibodies and anti-vimentin antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunoassay
Results
The mean 1-year titer of anti-vimentin antibodies in patients taking azathioprine (n = 41) was significantly higher that of MMF patients (n = 45) (p = .01; Table I). There was no difference in mean titer of anti-vimentin antibodies prior to transplantation in these patients (MMF, 69.9 ± 31; Azathioprine, 59.7 ± 21 [mean ± SD]). When results were expressed as number of patients becoming positive for anti-vimentin antibodies (titer > 120) on at least one occasion after transplant, the results
Discussion
Vimentin is an intermediate filament characteristic of fibroblasts, proliferating smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. It is strongly expressed in blood vessel walls and is involved in vascular remodeling in response to stress-induced injury.15, 16 Our current hypothesis is that antibodies to vimentin reflect an ongoing immune response to damaged parenchymal cells.14 Normally an intracellular protein, it is likely that vimentin is exposed or released from allografted tissues as a result
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