Role of mobile passenger lymphocytes in the rejection of renal and cardiac allografts in the rat. A passenger lymphocyte-mediated graft-versus-host reaction amplifies the host response.

It is demonstrated that passenger lymphocytes migrate out of rat renal allografts into host spleens in a radioresistant fashion. These mobile passenger lymphocytes within BN kidney and heart transplants are immunocompetent, since they elicit a graft-versus-host (GVH) reaction in the spleens of (LEW x BN)F2 hybrid hosts. The greater GVH reaction in (LEW x BN)F1 recipients of BN kidneys reflects the greater number of mobile passenger lymphocytes in the kidney when compared to the heart. The mobile passenger lymphocytes within BN renal allografts also cause a proliferative response in the spleens of LEW hosts as well as an accelerated rejection of BN renal allografts when compared to BN cardiac allografts, for the differences between BN kidney and heart, both in terms of splenomegaly elicited in LEW as well as tempo of rejection, are abolished by total body X-irradiation of the donor with 900 rad. Results indicate that a mobile passenger lymphocyte mediated GVH reaction in the central lymphoid organs of the host augments the host response to allogeneic kidneys and contributes materially to first-set renal allograft rejection; this GVH reaction on the other hand is not conspicuously present in LEW recipients of BN cardiac allografts and has therefore little effect on first-set cardiac allograft rejection.