NITRIC OXIDE GENERATION : A PREDICTIVE PARAMETER OF ACUTE ALLOGRAFT REJECTION

The L-arginine:nitric oxide (NO) biosynthetic pathway has been proposed as an important mediator in host defense mechanisms and may therefore play a role in the acute allograft response. We have studied NO generation in liver allograft rejection and determined its value in immunological monitoring. Stable end products of this pathway have been determined serially in 50 primary liver recipients and compared with 2 known mediators and markers of acute allograft rejection (IL-2R positive lymphocytes and circulating TNFα). Plasma concentrations of acid-labile nitrosocompounds (NOX), which increased during acute allograft rejection (P