DISTURBANCE OF THE CARDIOMYOCYTE’S MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURE IN HEART ALLOGRAFTS AS A SIGN OF CHRONIC REJECTION

Chronic rejection, especially cardiac allograft vasculopathy, is a major limiting factor for long-term transplant survival. This process affects not only the blood vessels, but also cardiomyocytes. However, there are extremely few reports on the evaluation of their macromolecular structure state. The aim of the study was to evaluate the structural proteins of cardiomyocytes (actin, myosin, troponin I, titin, desmin, vinculin) of heart allografts in different periods after the operation (from 6 days to 15 years). Major changes of macromolecular structure were revealed in late period after transplantation (6 months – 15 years). The contribution of humoral immune response in the process of chronic cardiac allograft rejection was observed: in eight of twelve recipients episodes of acute humoral rejection had been repeatedly registered; disorders of the expression of 5 proteins out of 6 characterized were found in recipients with recurrent and persistent antibody-mediated rejection.