Immune mechanisms of ischemia-reperfusion injury in transplantation

Abstract

All allografts suffer a number of unavoidable ischemic insults. These, starting with brain death and ending with reperfusion, are very troublesome, as ischemia-reperfusioninjury (IRI) is demonstrated to be a major cause of allograft damage in varioustypes of transplantations. To counter the threat this poses to allograft function,investigators have worked diligently over the past decades in clinical settingsand in the laboratory to understand the pathophysiology and immune mechanismunderlying IRI hoping to ultimately devise strategies that lessen itsdetrimental effects on allografts. Herein, we review the major immune componentsof the IRI dynamic process. Better understanding of the cellularpathophysiological processes underlying IRI will hopefully result in the designof more targeted therapies to prevent the injury, hasten repair, and minimizechronic progressive allograft damage.