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. 1998 Feb;152(2):359–365.

Reduced transplant arteriosclerosis in murine cardiac allografts placed in interferon-gamma knockout recipients.

A Räisänen-Sokolowski 1, T Glysing-Jensen 1, J Koglin 1, M E Russell 1
PMCID: PMC1857959  PMID: 9466561

Abstract

To investigate the functional role of interferon (IFN)-gamma in transplant arteriosclerosis, BALB/c hearts were transplanted in immunosuppressed C57BL/6J recipients with (n = 10) or without (n = 10) targeted IFN-gamma gene deletion. In 55-day heart allografts, IFN-gamma deficiency resulted in a significant decrease in vascular thickening. The severity of intimal thickening measured as the percentage of luminal occlusion (mean +/- SEM) in all elastin stained vessels (n = 410) decreased from 37+/-5% in wild-type recipients to 18+/-5% in IFN-gamma -/- recipients (P < 0.005). In the few diseased vessels in grafts from IFN-gamma -/- recipients, the neointima was more cellular with a 90% increase in the nuclear density. This finding correlated with a 50% reduction in fibrosis estimated by alpha-smooth muscle actin cell accumulation in the neointima. The reduction in severity and altered composition of vascular thickening in grafts from IFN-gamma -/- recipients shows that IFN-gamma contributes to arteriosclerotic development following transplantation.

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Selected References

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