Solid organ transplantation - Immunologic theory and immunosuppressive strategy

Current therapeutic approaches to solid organ transplantation are based upon Medawar's hypothesis that graft rejection is transferred in specific fashion systemically by lymphocytes and abrogated by neonatal exposure. Our failure to ensure graft success relates not only to the gaps in our knowledge of immunologic events, but also to a lack of understanding of the pathophysiology of transplanted organs. Allograft rejection and immunosuppression are among the topics discussed in detail in this article.