HISTOCOMPATIBILITY AND IMMUNOLOGIC COMPETENCE IN RENAL HOMOTRANSPLANTATION.

Cultures of peripheral lymphocytes may be used to assay histocompatibility. The lymphocytes from potential kidney recipients are cultured with those from potential donors and the percentage of large cells and mitoses stimulated is determined. The immunologic competence of cultured lymphocytes from recipients receiving immunosuppressive therapy is evaluated by determining their responsiveness to phytohemagglutinin. Suppression of response appears to be correlated with the absence of clinical signs of graft rejection.