Dendritic Cell Therapy May Improve Graft Survival after Kidney Transplantation

Injecting donor dendritic cells prior to kidney transplantation was linked to significantly longer graft survival durations in an animal model. A new American Journal of Transplantation study found administering specialized immune cells derived from donor blood monocytes 7 days before surgery extended median survival to 113.5 days compared to 39.5 days for controls. Both the groups received the same experimental immunosuppressive regimen designed to induce rejection. No adverse effects or evidence of host sensitization were observed in the dendritic cell group. This could potentially lead to regimens that reduce the need for immunosuppressive therapies.