Marrow grafts between canine litter-mates homozygous or heterozygous for lymphocyte-defined histocompatibility antigens.

Hemopoietic grafts following 1,200 R of total body irradiation were carried out between canine littermates homozygous or heterozygous for lymphocyte defined (LD) antigens of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). In all but five of the 25 pairs studied, LD homozygous dogs were also homozygous for serologically defined (SD) antigens of the MHC. Results of transplants were compared with previous results obtained in littermate pairs matched or mismatched for the MHC. Two groups of recipients were studied. Of 14 LD homozygous recipients in group 1 given grafts from LD heterozygous donors, 12 died between 8 and 193 days and two survived more than 238 and 627 days. The most frequent cause of death was graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Survival was significantly shorter (P less than 0.005) than that of dogs given grafts from matched littermates and not different (P congruent to 0.5) from that of dogs given grafts from mismatched littermates. Survival of 11 LD heterozygous recipients in group 2 given grafts from LD homozygous donors was not different from that of dogs in group 1 (P congruent to 0.5). The results indicate that the LD loci detected by mixed leukocyte culture are not the principal determinants within the MHC that are responsible for GVHD.