Phenotypically and functionally distinct CD8+ lymphocyte populations in long-term drug-free tolerance and chronic rejection in human kidney graft recipients

D Baeten, S Louis, C Braud, C Braudeau… - Journal of the …, 2006 - journals.lww.com
A substantial proportion of long-term kidney graft recipients, including those with a stable
renal function in the absence of immunosuppressive therapy, present a skewed T cell
receptor (TCR) Vβ chain usage, essentially in the CD8+ subset. This study analyzed in more
detail phenotypical and functional alterations of CD8+ lymphocytes in drug-free tolerant
patients (DF-Tol) compared with recipients with chronic rejection (CR). Phenotyping
revealed a significant increase in central memory and a decrease in effector CD8+ …