Lymphokinetic monitoring of a liver transplant recipient treated with OKT3.

Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed on a 48-year-old female patient with end-stage liver disease due to primary biliary cirrhosis. A course of OKT3 (5 mg/kg intravenously for 14 days) was given as immunosuppressive therapy. Lymphocyte population, T lymphocyte subsets and the lymphokine level in the peripheral blood were serially measured. Total T cells disappeared in the peripheral circulation within 10 minutes after an injection of OKT3. Helper T cells and suppressor T cells were also suppressed during the course of treatment. The ratio of T4/T8 declined from 2.5 to around 1.3. The serum interleukin-2 and the interleukin-2 receptor did not change markedly during treatment. The serum neopterin level increased after discontinuation of OKT3. The anti-mouse OKT3 antibody increased after the ninth day of OKT3 treatment. OKT3 showed potent T cell suppressive activity.