Prevention of mouse-rat brain xenograft rejection by a combination therapy of cyclosporin A, prednisolone and azathioprine

Embryonic mouse hippocampal tissue was grafted as tissue blocks to the hippocampal region of adult rats and the effect of two different immunosuppressive treatments compared. Immunosuppression with cyclosporin A, prednisolone and azathioprine or with cyclosporin A alone was compared with placebo treatment. Eight weeks' postgrafting medication with cyclosporin A, prednisolone and azathioprine had resulted in survival of 14 out of 15 grafts (93%), compared with 11 out of 14 (79%) in the group treated with cyclosporin A alone. Only 2 out of 13 grafts (15%) survived in placebo-treated animals. Transplants in the trimedication group displayed distinct cell and neuropil layers and only minimal cellular infiltration by leukocyte common antigen-expressing cells, whereas grafts in cyclosporin A- and placebo-treated groups were densely infiltrated. The results are discussed in relation to the need for extended immunosuppressive and antiinflammatory therapies after intracerebral grafting of histoincompatible tissues.