Radiation Said to Decrease Rejection of Transplanted Intestines

Dr. Kareem Abu-Elmagd told attendees at the Transplant 2001 scientific meeting in Chicago that whereas four out of five patients experience rejection following a conventional bowel transplant, only one patient out of 15 rejected an intestinal transplant that had been irradiated prior to surgery.

In the experimental procedure, the donor intestine is placed into a box designed by Abu-Elmagd and a low dose of radiation is applied for a few minutes. The radiation destroys many of the donor white blood cells, which otherwise might be targeted for destruction by the recipient's immune system.

The recipients of the irradiated intestine were also given donor bone marrow to replenish white cells and set the stage for chimerism, which may contribute to acceptance of the transplanted organ.

The study patients have been followed for an average of six months, Abu-Elmagd said, with one participant living rejection-free for more than a year since receiving an irradiated intestinal transplant.

Abu-Elmagd termed the findings promising because "most rejections occur in the first few weeks after transplant."

Abu-Elmagd said he was also working with lung transplant experts to design trials to see if radiation treatment would help reduce rejection of that organ as well.