Figure 4.

Purified serum IgG against apoptotic cells at bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) diagnosis and progress during transplantation follow-up. Levels of purified serum IgG, obtained at BOS diagnosis, were analyzed in a cohort of 10 BOS+ patients and 10 BOS− patients matched for age, gender, month after transplantation, and primary lung disease. No differences between these two groups were observed using either apoptotic endothelial cells (A) or Jurkat cells (B). Data normally distributed, unpaired t-test, BOS+ n = 10, BOS− n = 10 (C). In order to gain insight into the course of IgG antibodies against apoptotic targets during follow-up after lung transplantation we used a quartile-based selection method. For this end, we divided the time from transplantation to the moment of BOS diagnosis in four equal quartiles and purified IgG from serum taken at each quartile. Parallel to 10 BOS+ patients, we analyzed 10 matched BOS− patients, mentioned above, via this approach. BOS+ patients present with slightly elevated IgG levels specific for apoptotic targets, although this difference is not significant. Each dot represents the mean ± SEM of 10 analyzed individuals. Two-way ANOVA on Log₂ transformed mean fluorescent intensity (MFI), with BOS as independent source of variation.