Tissue factor in normal and transplanted human kidneys.

Tissue factor (TF) plays a central role in the initiation of blood coagulation that frequently is enhanced in renal allografts. The identification and localization of TF was studied immunocytochemically in biopsies from normal and transplanted human kidneys and classified according to its distribution. The clinical status of each allograft was then correlated with the TF classifications. From these correlations, four distributional types of TF were identified. In normal kidneys, TF was localized to glomerular epithelium and basement membranes. Glomerular TF expression did not colocalize with mesangial or endothelial HLA-DR reactivity as determined by double antibody techniques. Tissue factor in donor kidneys also was identified in the renal capsule and in the adventitia of large arteries. These structures were not reactive in long-term transplanted grafts. Some cadaver kidneys prepared for transplantation had depleted glomerular TF, and exhibited TF reactivity within stromal tissues. Long-term allografts with progressive loss of renal function and kidneys with advanced rejection exhibited diminished TF reactivity of glomerular epithelium and basement membranes. This was frequently associated with fibrin deposition within the glomeruli and in the intertubular microcirculation. These findings indicate that the evaluation of TF in transplanted kidneys is related to the prognosis of graft survival.