Early Graft Losses in Paired Kidney Exchange: Experience from 10 Years of the National Kidney Registry.

Cooperative kidney paired donation (KPD) networks account for an increasing proportion of all living donor kidney transplants in the United States. There is sparse data on the rate of primary non-function (PNF) losses and their consequences within KPD networks. We studied National Kidney Registry (NKR) transplants (2/14/2009-12/31/2017) and quantified PNF, graft loss within 30 days of transplantation, and graft losses in the first year post-transplant and assessed potential risk factors. Of 2364 transplants, there were 38 (1.6%) grafts lost within the first year, 13 (0.5%) with PNF. When compared to functioning grafts, there were no clinically significant differences in blood type compatibility, degree of HLA mismatch, number of veins/arteries, cold ischemia, and travel times. Of 13 PNF cases, 2 were due to early venous thrombosis, 2 to arterial thrombosis, and 2 to failure of desensitization and development of AMR. Given the low rate of PNF, the NKR created a policy to allocate chain-end kidneys to recipients with PNF following event review and attributable to surgical issues of donor nephrectomy. It is expected that demonstration of low incidence of poor early graft outcomes and the presence of a 'safety net' would further encourage program participation in national KPD. (link)

Genomic Mismatch at LIMS1 Locus and Kidney Allograft Rejection

BACKGROUND: In the context of kidney transplantation, genomic incompatibilities between donor and recipient may lead to allosensitization against new antigens. We hypothesized that recessive inheritance of gene-disrupting variants may represent a risk factor for allograft rejection.
METHODS : We performed a two-stage genetic association study of kidney allograft rejection. In the first stage, we performed a recessive association screen of 50 common gene-intersecting deletion polymorphisms in a cohort of kidney transplant recipients. In the second stage, we replicated our findings in three independent cohorts of donor–recipient pairs. We defined genomic collision as a specific donor–recipient genotype combination in which a recipient who was homozygous for a gene-intersecting deletion received a transplant from a nonhomozygous donor. Identification of alloantibodies was performed with the use of protein arrays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and Western blot analyses.
RESULTS : In the discovery cohort, which included 705 recipients, we found a significant association with allograft rejection at the LIMS1 locus represented by rs893403 (hazard ratio with the risk genotype vs. nonrisk genotypes, 1.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35 to 2.50; P=9.8×10−5). This effect was replicated under the genomic-collision model in three independent cohorts involving a total of 2004 donor–recipient pairs (hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.25 to 1.93; P=6.5×10−5). In the combined analysis (discovery cohort plus replication cohorts), the risk genotype was associated with a higher risk of rejection than the nonrisk genotype (hazard ratio, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.37 to 1.95; P=4.7×10−8). We identified a specific antibody response against LIMS1, a kidney-expressed protein encoded within the collision locus. The response involved predominantly IgG2 and IgG3 antibody subclasses.
CONCLUSIONS : We found that the LIMS1 locus appeared to encode a minor histocompatibility antigen. Genomic collision at this locus was associated with rejection of the kidney allograft and with production of anti-LIMS1 IgG2 and IgG3. (Funded by the Columbia University Transplant Center and others.) (read more)

Should Epitope-Based HLA Compatibility Be Used in the Kidney Allocation System?

The new kidney allocation system (KAS) still applies donor-recipient HLA compatibility at the antigen level and some four-digit alleles have been added recently. This system is used to record unacceptable mismatches for sensitized transplant candidates with serum HLA antibodies. Since the reactivities of such antibodies are specifically associated with epitopes rather than HLA antigens, a more scientifically accurate assessment of mismatch acceptability could be based on epitopes. HLA class I and class II epitope specificity analyses can now be readily performed with serum antibody assays with single allele panels. This report describes an epitope-based HLA compatibility system for KAS and involves recipient and donor HLA typing at the four-digit allele level. It focuses on sensitized patients who have serum antibodies specific for HLA epitopes that can be entered as unacceptable mismatches in the transplant candidate database. Newly developed software programs could readily identify compatible HLA types (read more)

Acquired down-regulation of donor-specific antibody production after ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation

The mechanism of long-term B cell immunity against donor blood group antigens in recipients who undergo ABO-incompatible (ABOi) living-donor kidney transplantation (LKTx) is unknown. To address this question, we evaluated serial anti-A and anti-B antibody titers in 50 adult recipients. Donor-specific antibody titers remained low (≤1:4) in 42 recipients (84%). However, antibodies against nondonor blood group antigens were continuously produced in recipients with blood type O. We stimulated recipients’ peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro to investigate whether B-cells produced antibodies against donor blood group antigens in the absence of graft adsorption in vivo. Antibodies in cell culture supernatant were measured using specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Thirty-five healthy volunteers and 57 recipients who underwent ABO-compatible LKTx served as controls. Antibody production in vitro against donor blood group antigens by cells from ABOi LKTx patients was lower than in the control groups. Immunoglobulin deposits were undetectable in biopsies of grafts of eight recipients with low antibody titers (≤1:4) after ABOi LKTx. One patient with blood type A1 who received a second ABOi LKTx from a type B donor did not produce B-specific antibodies. These findings suggest diminished donor-specific antibody-production function in the setting of adult ABOi LKTx (read more)

Pretransplantation donor-recipient pair seroreactivity against BK polyomavirus predicts viremia and nephropathy after kidney transplantation

Kidney transplant donors are currently not implicated in predicting BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) infection in kidney transplant recipients. It has been postulated, however, that BKPyV infection originates from the kidney allograft. Since BKPyV-seroreactivity correlates with BKPyV-replication and, therefore, might mirror the infectious load, we investigated whether BKPyV-seroreactivity of the donor predicts viremia and BKPyV-associated nephropathy (BKPyVAN) in the recipient. In a retrospective cohort of 407 living kidney donor-recipient pairs pretransplantation donor and recipient sera were tested for BKPyV IgG-levels and correlated with the occurrence of recipient BKPyV viremia and BKPyVAN within one year posttransplantation. As such, donor BKPyV IgG-level was strongly associated with BKPyV viremia and BKPyVAN (p < 0.001), while recipient BKPyV-seroreactivity showed a non-significant inverse trend. Pairing of high BKPyV-seroreactive donors with low seroreactive recipients resulted in a 10-fold increased risk for BKPyV viremia (HR 10.1, 95% CI: 3.5 – 29.0, p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, donor BKPyV-seroreactivity was the strongest pretransplantation factor associated with viremia (p < 0.001) and BKPyVAN (p = 0.007). The proportional relation between donor BKPyV-seroreactivity and recipient infection suggests that donor BKPyV-seroreactivity reflects the infectious load of the kidney allograft, and calls for the use of pretransplantation BKPyV-serological testing of (potential) donors and recipients (read more)

The Risk of Transplant Failure With HLA Mismatch in First Adult Kidney Allografts From Deceased Donors

Background: Since the beginning of the technology, there has been active debate about the role of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) matching in kidney allograft survival. Recent studies have reported diminishing importance of HLA matching, which have, in turn, been challenged by reports that suggest the continuing importance of these loci. Given the controversies, we examined the effect of HLA compatibility on kidney allograft survival by studying all first adult kidney transplants in the United States from a deceased donor.
Methods: Using the United Network for Organ Sharing data, we identified first deceased donor kidney transplants between October 1, 1987, and December 31, 2013. Recipients were classified by their number of HLA mismatches. Cox multivariate regression analyses adjusting for recipient and donor transplant characteristics were performed to determine the impact of HLA compatibility on kidney allograft survival.
Results: Study cohort included 189 141 first adult kidney alone transplants, with a total of 994 558 years of kidney allograft follow-up time. Analyses adjusted for recipient and donor characteristics demonstrated a 13% higher risk (hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.21) with 1 mismatch and a 64% higher risk (hazard ratio, 1.64, 95% confidence interval, 1.56-1.73) with 6 mismatches. Dividing the mismatch categories into 27 ordered permutations, and testing their 57 within mismatch category differences, demonstrated that all but 1 were equal, independent of locus.
Conclusions: A significant linear relationship of hazard ratios was associated with HLA mismatch and affects allograft survival even during the recent periods of increasing success in renal transplantation (read more)

A reliable method for avoiding false negative results with Luminex single antigen beads; evidence of the prozone effect.

Luminex single antigen bead (SAB) assays have become an essential tool in monitoring the status of antibody to the Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) of patients both before and after transplantation. In addition SAB data is used to aid risk stratification to assess immunological risk of humoral rejection in solid organ transplantation (CTAG/BTAG guidelines). Increasingly laboratories are reporting false negative results at high antibody titre due to a prozone effect. Here we report a case study where the prozone effect led to a false negative antibody result that could have resulted in adverse outcome. We describe a method to reliably remove the prozone effect through heat inactivation and the addition of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to the Luminex wash buffer (read more)