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Sulfonamides were ineffective in the treatment of pulmonary nocardiosis in one recipient of a renal homotransplant and produced severe sensitivity reactions precluding their further use in another. Favorable antinocardial and clinical effects were achieved by treatment with erythromycin plus ampicillin in the latter and with minocycline in the former. Selection of appropriate therapy was based on tests for susceptibility of the causative organism to antimicrobial agents, for which suitable inoculum, medium, and incubation period were used.

The folic acid antagonist amethopterin has been utilized as an immunosuppressive agent in mice in supralethal dosages combined with delayed administration of folinic acid as a rescuing agent. This principle has been found effective in significantly prolonging the survival of skin grafts involving major histocompatibility differences. A schedule of injections of 30 mg/kg body weight given subcutaneously, with a 200 mg/kg folinic acid rescue intraperitoneally 6 hr later, given every 5 days, allowed maximum graft survival of up to 18 days. Pre-graft treatment was found to be without effect, and previous thymectomy seemed to exert a “protective” effect against both the therapeutic and toxic manifestations of amethopterin therapy.

This volume collects the papers of a symposium on organ transplantation held on the opening of Saint Luke's Hospital in Amsterdam. Some chapters cover summarily the entire field under discussion and others provide a very detailed discussion of selected areas.In the opening section on transplantation immunology, Mitchison presents the evidence for lymphocyte recognition units and control of immune reactions by cell-cell interactions. Ceppellini and van Rood in separate chapters discuss the genetics of tissue transplantation and the use of the HL-A histocompatibility system in clinical tissue typing.In the area of immunosuppression, Calne provides a short catalog of various drugs used today and a more detailed account of the unique immunosuppressive effects of the transplanted pig liver. Then Woodruff summarizes excellently the present status of antilymphocyte serum.Bone marrow transplantation is discussed by Mathe, who reports on the treatment of 24 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He includes not