• Soo Jin Kim, Joon Ye Kim, Eun Jee Kim, Hyojung Lee, Yuri Cho, Myoung Soo Kim, Yu Seun Kim, Beom Seok Kim, and Kyu Ha Huh.
• Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• Yonsei Med. J. 2022 Feb 1; 63 (2): 158-165.

PurposeThe immunomodulatory effects of thalidomide (TM) and dexamethasone (DX) on immune cells and their co-stimulatory, co-inhibitory molecules in vitro and in vivo have been previously reported. The current study investigated the effects of TM and the combinatorial treatment with DX on immune cells using a murine cardiac allograft transplantation model.Materials And MethodsIntraabdominal transplant of cardiac allografts from BALB/c (H-2d) donors to C57BL/6 (H-2b) recipients was performed. After transplantation, mice were injected daily with TM or DX or a combination of both TM and DX (TM/DX) by intraperitoneal route until the time of graft loss. CD4+ T cell subsets and CD11c+ cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and spleen were examined and quantified with flow cytometry. Serum IL-6 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on day 7.ResultsThe mean graft survivals were 6.86 days in the untreated group, and 10.0 days in the TM/DX group (p<0.001). The TM/DX treatment affected the CD4+ T cell subsets without suppressing the total CD4+ T cell population. The CD4+FOXP3+/CD4+CD44hi T cell ratio increased. Increase in cell counts and median fluorescence intensity on CD11c+CD85k+ with TM/DX were observed. The inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 was also observed.ConclusionThese outcomes suggest the immunomodulating effect of the TM/DX combinatorial treatment. In conclusion, TM/DX combination may be a promising immunomodulatory approach for preventing allograft rejection and improving graft survival by inducing tolerance in transplantation.© Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2022.

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