CDNS 1200 Midterm: Issues Associated with Transplant Rejection
Document Summary
Transplantation is the process of moving organs, tissues, or cells. A malfunctioning organ system can be repaired by transplantation of an organ from a donor (e. g. , pancreas, lung, heart, liver, or kidney). However, the immune system continues to be the most important impediment to transplantation as a standard medical procedure. To fight foreign agents, the immune system has evolved sophisticated and powerful mechanisms. These mechanisms are also involved in the rejection of transplanted organs by the recipient"s immune system, which recognizes them as alien. When a donor organ is transplanted into a recipient, the recipient"s immune system almost always identifies the new organ as foreign and mounts an immune response. Rejection of transplants (or grafts) can be classified into two broad categories: antibody-mediated rejection and cell-mediated rejection. Cell-mediated rejection, which is more prevalent in the initial year after a transplant, is triggered by immune cells known as t cells rejecting the transplant.
