Enhancement of rat kidney allografts using haptenated alloantigens and antihapten antibody.

The survival of semiallogeneic or fully allogeneic rat kidney allografts was prolonged in some strain combinations with immune complexes formed with hapten-conjugated alloantigens (TNP-Ag) of donor origin and a mouse monoclonal antihapten antibody (anti-TNP). Complexes were administered i.v. at the time of operation--and, in some cases, on subsequent days. Complexes using TNP-modified alloantigen in various forms--donor whole spleen lymphocytes, cellular membrane sonicate, or papain-solubilized-were all found to be effective in enhancing graft survival in specific donor-recipient combinations. Indefinite survival was obtained in some recipient groups with semiallogenic donors, and a more modest degree of enhancement was seen with fully allogeneic kidneys. The enhancing effect was shown to be donor-specific and highly dependent on the ratio of anti-TNP antibody to TNP alloantigen.