A 53-year-old female hospital patient has received a kidney transplant following renal failure secondary to hypertension. As part of the teaching while she was on the organ wait list, she was made aware that she would need to take antirejection drugs for the rest of her life. Which aspect of the immune system underlies this necessity?
A) The lack of identifiable major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules will stimulate the innate immune response.
B) Donor organ antibodies will be identified as foreign and stimulate an immune response.
C) Antirejection drugs will stimulate the production of familiar MHC molecules.
D) MHC molecules will never develop in the cells of the donor organ, and effector cells will be continually stimulated.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The lack of familiar MHC molecules will stimulate an immune response by effector cells in the absence of antirejection drugs. An innate immune response is not central to the response, but rather the adaptive immune system. Lack of known MHC molecules, not foreign antibodies, accounts for the immune response, and familiar MHC molecules will not be produced by the donor kidney cells.

A 53-Year-Old Female Hospital Patient Has Received a Kidney Transplant