RANTES in the postoperative course after liver transplantation.

RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted), an inflammatory cytokine, promotes accumulation and activation of leukocytes. In 67 liver transplantations, systemic concentrations of RANTES were correlated to graft survival and incidence of rejection. RANTES levels either increased to highly elevated levels at day 14 (84 +/- 64 ng/ml; group 1; n = 43) or remained within the limit of healthy controls (19 +/- 11 ng/ml at day 14; group 2; n = 24). The 100-day graft function rate was 0.91 in group 1 and 0.63 in group 2 (P = 0.002). The risk ratio for rejection during the first 100 days was increased 2.2-fold in group 2 compared to group 1 (P = 0.02). High postoperative release of RANTES after liver transplantation, a beneficial factor, may reflect a general systemic immunological activation. It can be concluded that high early systemic RANTES levels may play a role in immunological recognition leading to a tolerance of the liver graft.