TRAPIANTO ORTOTOPICO TOTALE DI INTESTINO MESENTERIALE NEL MAIALE CON IMPIEGO DELLA CICLOSPORINA A. RISULTATI MORFOLOGICI E FUNZIONALI

Cyclosporine A (CsA) - 25 mg/Kg b.w. daily - significantly prolonged the survival time in a swine model of total orthotopic small bowel transplantation; no acute graft rejection was observed in this experimental group. A 5 mg/Kg b.w. dose did not succeed in preventing lethal acute rejection of the graft in about 50% of the transplanted animals. Furthermore, the long term survivors were a small percentage of the overall number of attempts, mainly because of a high rate of technical and septic complications. No evidence of liver, kidney or bone marrow toxicity was found in the animals receiving CsA. Useful information about functional properties of the intestinal allograft cannot be given by xylose absorption test alone; four weeks after surgery the absorption of xylose was significantly lower than normal animals, despite the lack of graft rejection: lymphatic interruption, denervation and/or bacterial overgrowth may have played a major role.