Abstract:

BACKGROUND: In the field of organ transplantation, patients often take immunosuppressants after organ transplantation, such as CsA, FK506, DEX and MPA. However, their mechanisms of immunosuppression are different. The effect of immunosuppressive drugs on monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) remains poorly understood.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of different immunosuppressants on the secretions of MCP-1 in whole blood.
METHODS: The whole blood of healthy volunteers was mixed with different immunosuppressants for 6 hours, such as CsA, FK506, DEX and MPA, which included low, middle and high concentrations, followed by PMA and IONO stimulation for 6 hours. MCP-1 levels in whole blood samples were compared. The whole blood cultured alone served as control.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: MCP-1 secretion was inhibited by DEX (1, 10 mg/L) and CsA (0.25, 1.25 mg/L). However, FK and MPA exhibited no such effect. Therefore, DEX and CsA may inhibit the function of monocytes and macrophages in immune system by diminishing the secretion of MCP-1. The combination of FK (5 µg/L), MPA (10 mg/L) and DEX (1mg/L) or CsA    (0.25 mg/L), MPA (10 mg/L) and DEX (1 mg/L) can inhibit the secretion of MCP-1, but only DEX among all the immunosuppressants mentioned above exhibited significant effect on inhibiting the secretion of MCP-1 when using alone.