[The effect of high-dosage prednisolone administration on antibody formation and graft survival time following allogenic rat kidney transplantation].

The dose and time dependence of the immunosuppressive effect of prednisolone on renal allograft survival and antibody formation was studied in inbred rats. A single injection of 50 - 300 mg prednisolone/kg body wt. on the day of transplantation resulted in a dose-dependent prolongation of mean graft survival to 12.8 days as compared to 7.8 days for untreated controls. The daily postoperative administration of 10 and 30 mg prednisolone/kg prolonged the mean survival time to a lesser extent. A single bolus injection of 300 mg prednisolone/kg at different times after transplantatin resulted in a significant prolongation of graft survival and suppression of cytotoxic antibody only when given no later than 2 days postoperatively or following antigen injection.