ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the effect on PVG rats of exposure to DA liver antigens by means other than orthotopic transplantation, namely, either heterotopic auxiliary liver grafting or injection of a liver cell suspension. Suspensions of DA liver cells were prepared by grinding the liver (wet weight 9 to 12 g) through a fine sieve and brought to a volume of 10 ml in phosphate-buffered saline without washing. The outcome of liver transplantation in the rat depends both on the strain combination used and on whether the graft is auxiliary or nonauxiliary. An orthotopic DA liver graft in a PVG recipient is permanently accepted; the recipients become systemically tolerant of DA antigens and will accept a subsequent DA heart graft, but not a third-party graft. The failure to tolerize with liver cells is disappointing insofar as this could have provided an approach to donor-specific tolerance with possible clinical application in man.
