Untreated PVG (RT1c) rats reject ACI (RT1a) renal grafts in 6-8 days. Autologous (PVG) blood transfusions (ABT) do not alter ACI allograft rejection, but donor-specific blood transfusions (DSBT) 7 or 11 days prior to transplantation usually results in indefinite graft survival. We have reported previously that DSBT is associated with the development of antiidiotypic antibody and reduced circulating cytotoxic alloantibodies in this model. To further define the effects of DSBT on the alloantibody responses to renal allografts, we examined PVG rats that received DSBT or ABT prior to ACI renal transplantation. Antibody production by cells in the spleen was investigated by tissue culture techniques; circulating antibody titers were measured by antibody binding to target ACI lymphoblasts with flow cytometry; and antibodies bound to the ACI allograft were recovered by hypertonic acid elution and quantitated by flow cytometry and ELISA. Seven days after DSBT alone, circulating IgM alloantibodies to ACI reached peak titers. After renal allografting, serum IgM alloantibody titers decreased in DSBT-pretreated rats and little IgG could be detected. In contrast, renal allografts in ABT-pretreated rats elicited high titers of IgM and moderate titers of IgG in the circulation by 5-7 days posttransplantation. Spleens harvested one week posttransplantation from ABT-pretreated rats produced high titers (16-32) of IgM and IgG antibodies to ACI antigens, but no such antibody production was detected in spleens cultured from DSBT-pretreated rats. In addition, 4-32-fold more IgM and IgG was eluted from kidneys removed 6-7 days after grafting to ABT-treated rats than from allografts in DSBT-treated rats. IgG2a was the predominant subclass of IgG that bound to target ACI cells. No IgA was detected in graft eluates from any rat. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the eluates contained predominantly IgM and IgG without significant contamination by other serum proteins. These data suggest that DSBT decreases the levels of IgM and IgG normally produced in the spleen and deposited in the graft following renal transplantation. Because IgM fixes complement and IgG (especially IgG2a) triggers ADCC, the reduced deposition of IgM and IgG in the graft may be of particular importance in DSBT enhancement.