The detection and evaluation of migration stimulatory factor in renal allograft recipients.

Seventy-one recipients of related donor renal allografts were tested for cellular immunity with the direct migration inhibition factor assay. Patients were divided into three groups on the basis of their responses in the assay. It was shown that all patients whose lymphocytes stimulated macrophage migration in vitro experienced more benign clinical courses than did those patients whose lymphocytes inhibited macrophage migration in vitro. The significance of a correlation between in vitro macrophage stimulation and clinical course is discussed.