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Article: After 40 years, researchers say they know why females tend to reject male donor organs
- Article from:
- Transplant News
- Article date:
- September 22, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Transplant Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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After 40 years of research on the subject, scientists in England and the U.S. reported almost simultaneously that they have discovered why the bodies of female transplant recipients sometimes reject the organs from male donors while male donors tolerate the organs donated by women quite well.
The culprit seems to be a compound that originates from the male Y chromosome and causes an immune reaction in women.
Reporting in the September 15 issue of Science, Victor Englehard of the University of Virginia and colleagues report that the compound, a group of amino acids linked together to form a peptide, are recognized as foreign and are attached by immune system ...