An analysis of tissue-specific transplantation phenomena in a minor histoincompatibility system.

Abstract

Tissue-specific differences in immunogenicity were demonstrated following allotransplantation across the same minor histocompatibility barrier (BALB/c----DBA/2). In contrast to the high immunogenicity of fetal pancreas and skin, isolated islets, fetal proislets, and thyroid were weakly immunogenic. These tissue-specific effects were not related to the presence of tissue-specific antigens or the absence of recognizable minor alloantigens from the less immunogenic tissues. There was a strong correlation between tissues that were highly immunogenic and those that contained rich populations of donor leukocytes. The survival of fetal pancreas allografts was significantly improved by pretreating t..