Here’s why the body may reject lung transplants

New Delhi, Mar 05 (ANI): A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has identified, in mice, a process that may prevent antibody-mediated rejection in lung transplants and lead to the development of therapies to treat this form of rejection. One particularly deadly form of rejection — called antibody-mediated rejection — remains difficult to diagnose after a lung transplant and is mostly unreceptive to available treatments.

This process has been observed in more than 10 per cent of lung transplant recipients and occurs when a type of white blood cell, called B cells, from the recipient produces antibodies against the donor lung. The study is published February 1 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. The researchers found that giving mice immunosuppressive drugs at the time of transplant helped the lungs to survive and induced the growth of lymph node-like structures within the lung grafts.

They discovered that these newly induced structures contained Foxp3-expressing T cells, a cell population that can dampen immune responses. The researchers noted that antibody-mediated rejection after lung transplantation occurs when B cells mingle with T cells in the donor lung. This co-mingling between B and T cells is prevented by Foxp3-expressing T cells. This suggests a treatment may be developed that interrupts the interaction so the two cell types cannot find each other.