Immunosuppression in a Critically Ill Patient

The destruction of an allograft, be it kidney, liver, heart, pancreas, skin, or any other organ is a specific immune phenomenon which depends upon the immuno-regulatory system which may lead to either its destruction or its survival [1]. The marked improvement in immunosuppression has led to an expansion of the whole field of clinical transplantation. Immunosuppression is defined as a state in which the capacity to form antibodies or to mount a cell-mediated immunologie reaction to a foreign donor’s tissue is reduced. Although the majority of the agents used clinically act by damaging lymphoid cells, some chemical or biological agents interfere with cell-to-cell signaling and others interfere with non-specific inflammatory reactions that accompany transplant rejection.