[Clinical significance of immunological findings for the survival time of kidney transplants with antilymphocyte globulin therapy].

A balanced combination of immunosuppressive regimens like cortisone, azathioprine and ALG can not only reduce the frequency, but also the severity of rejection episodes in kidney transplant patients. Addition of ALG influences the lymphocyte populations, especially T-lymphocytes. The significant reduction produced obviously includes cytotoxic effector lymphocytes as well as socalled regulator cells (suppressor cells). It seems as if this beneficial function for the graft is not only reduced under immunosuppressive therapy and administration of ALG, but disappears during rejection crises. The results indicate, however, that these cell populations recover quickly after finishing the immunosuppressive regimen.