Improved microsurgical techniques for kidney transplantation in the monkey are described. The left graft kidney is transplanted to the lower part of abdomen with end-to-side anastomoses of renal artery to aorta without a patch of aorta, renal vein to inferior vena cava, and end-to-end anastomosis of donor and recipient ureter with 8-0 nylon sutures in a bilateral nephrectomized recipient monkey. We recently performed 60 kidney transplantations in Vervet monkeys. None died of surgery or surgical complications. This reproducible model provides a useful tool to test new immunosuppressants and to investigate the mechanism of drug-induced tolerance and xenotransplantation in primates as a support to clinical trial.
Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.