The correlation of kidney transplant survival with lymphocyte mediated cytotoxicity on B cell targets.

A LMC micromethod using specific B lymphocyte target cells labeled with a fluorescent dye has been developed to select matched donors and recipients for kidney allotransplantation. The fluorescence of the B lymphocyte target cells was 85% or less of control levels in 9 of 28 patients. In 8 of these 9 hosts graft loss occurred. Nineteen sets of target cells showed 90-95% of control fluorescence. Only 5 of these recipients lost their transplants (p less than 0.01). The fluorescent LMC test correlates with successful renal transplant outcome when the target cells are purified B cells.