rejection

views updated May 18 2018

rejection (ri-jek-shŏn) n. (in transplantation) the destruction by immune mechanisms of a tissue grafted from another individual. Antibodies, complement, clotting factors, and platelets are involved in the failure of the graft to survive. Allograft rejection is a vigorous response that can be modified by drugs (such as ciclosporin and corticosteroids) and antibodies against T-cells; xenograft rejection is an acute response that is at present beyond therapeutic control.