(1.25-142.7) months for control patients, the incidence of infectious disease was 45.45% and 53.9% (ns), respectively. The incidence of bacterial infection was similar between the two groups, whereas the viralinfection rate was significantly lower, and the rate of fungal infection was significantly higher in the rituximab group. Nine out of 77 patients (11.68%) died after rituximab therapy, of which seven deaths (9.09%) were related to an infectious disease, compared to 1.55% in the controls (p = 0.0007). In the whole population, the independent predictive factors for infectioninduced death were the combined use of rituximab and antithymocyte-globulin given for induction or antirejection therapy, recipient age, and bacterial and fungal infections. After kidney transplantation, the use of rituximab is associated with a high risk of infectious disease and death related to infectious disease.

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Finally, fibroblasts and BM-MSCs act at an early stage through blockage of lymphocyte activation, as demonstrated by down-regulation of GZMB (granzyme B) and IL2RA (CD25) expression.