Effect of immunologic donor pretreatment on survival of perfused canine renal allografts.

We evaluated the effect of immunologic donor pretreatment followed by perfusion preservation on canine renal allograft survival. Donor-recipient pairs were selected on the basis of dog erythrocyte identity, a negative white blood-cell crossmatch, equivalent dog leukocyte matching, and significant mixed lymphocyte culture stimulation. Four hours before nephrectomy, all donors were pretreated with either normal saline or cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone. After donor nephrectomy, all grafts were preserved by pulsatile perfusion for 24 hr. Transplantation into the matched recipient was performed with simultaneous bilateral nephrectomy. No significant difference was found in the postoperative serum creatinine levels or median allograft survival between the two groups. This controlled study showed no beneficial effect of donor pretreatment on survival of perfused canine renal allografts.