CHRONIC SKIN GRAFT REJECTION IN URODELA .2. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF XENOGRAFT REJECTION

Reciprocal first set skin xenografts between four genera of normal adult urodeles resulted in chronic rejection in six combinations (median survival time, 32-50 days) and subacute rejection in two combinations (median survival time, 19 and 24 days). Several inter-familial xenografts survived indefinitely. This unique rejection reaction is attributed to weak histocompatibility interactions and antigen sharing. Whether these common antigens are exclusively transplantation antigens, species-specific antigens, or tissue-specific antigens remains speculative. Chronic xenograft rejection offers additional evidence of the lack of a major histocompatibility locus in urodele amphibians and suggests that weak transplantation alloantigens are also functioning as weak antigens in xenogeneic hosts. © 1969 by The Williams and Wilkins Co.