The British journal of surgery
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Over the past few years many centres have shown that blood transfusions given to potential renal transplant patients are beneficial to subsequent graft survival. Results from this centre have shown that an elevated ability of plasma to suppress lymphocyte reaction to antigen is associated with blood transfusions in chronic renal failure patients. ⋯ Furthermore, most of the suppressive activity was related to the naturally occurring plasma protein. alpha 2-macroglobulin. This prospective study reports a significant association between low plasma suppressive activity and early kidney graft loss through rejection, and suggests an explanation for the beneficial effects of blood transfusion on graft survival.