The clinical importance of preexisting HLA antibodies at the time of transplantation, identified by contemporary techniques, is not well understood. We conducted an observational study analyzing the association between preexisting donor-specific HLA antibodies (HLA-DSA) and incidence of acute antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and survival of patients and grafts among 402 consecutive deceaseddonor kidney transplant recipients. We detected HLA-DSA using Luminex single-antigen assays on the peak reactive and current sera. All patients had a negative lymphocytotoxic cross-match test on the day of transplantation. We found that 8-year graft survival was significantly worse (61%) among patients with preexisting HLA-DSA compared with both sensitized patients without HLA-DSA (93%) and nonsensitized patients (84%). Peak HLA-DSA Luminex mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) predicted AMR better than current HLA-DSA MFI (P ϭ 0.028). As MFI of the highest ranked HLA-DSA detected on peak serum increased, graft survival decreased and the relative risk for AMR increased: Patients with MFI Ͼ6000 had Ͼ100-fold higher risk for AMR than patients with MFI Ͻ465 (relative risk 113; 95% confidence interval 31 to 414). The presence of HLA-DSA did not associate with patient survival. In conclusion, the risk for both AMR and graft loss directly correlates with peak HLA-DSA strength. Quantification of HLA antibodies allows stratification of immunologic risk, which should help guide selection of acceptable grafts for sensitized patients.

We conclude that: (1) high dose IVIg alone is inferior to Plasmapheresis/IVIg/anti-CD20 as therapy for AMR and (2)DSA postrejection can be quantified using solid phase assays, showing that 3 months after AMR, DSA levels are higher in patients with graft loss.

This study analyzes the influence of preformed DSA, identified by HLA-specific ELISA assays, on graft survival and evaluates the incidence of antibodymediated rejection (AMR) in patients with and without pregraft desensitization.Kidney graft survival at 8 years was significantly worse in patients with DSA (n = 43) than in those without DSA (n = 194)(p = 0.03). The incidence of AMR in patients with DSA is 9-fold higher than in patients without DSA (p < 0.001) and their graft survival is significantly worse than in DSA patients without AMR and in non-DSA patients (p = 0.005). The prevalence for AMR in patients with DSA detected on historic serum is 32.3% in nondesensitized patients and 41.7% in desensitized patients. The risk for AMR is significantly more elevated in patients with strongly positive DSA (score 6-8) compared to those with DSA score 4 (p < 0.001), and in patients with historic DSA+/CXM+ compared to those with DSA+/CXM− (p = 0.01).The presence of preformed DSA is strongly associated with graft loss in kidney transplants, related to an increased risk of AMR. Our findings demonstrate the importance of detection and characterization of DSA before transplantation. Stratification of this risk could be used to determine kidney allocation and to devise specific strategies for these patients.

Since the pioneering work of Patel and Terazaki, the presence of an anti-donor anti-body of the IgG isotype, as demonstrated by a lymphocytotoxic assay on T cells, has been a contraindication to transplantation, due to the very high rate of graft loss reported (>80% in the first few weeks posttransplant). The advent of more sensible and specific techniques of detection of anti-HLA antibodies (such as ELISA or Luminex techniques) has questioned this dogma, with a number of reports showing that transplantation, despite the presence of an donor-specific antibody (DSA), could be done without excessive graft losses, despite higher rates of rejection. We thus decided to retrospectively screen a cohort of 237 patients consecutively transplanted in our unit. This study analyzes the influence of preformed DSA, identified by HLA-specific ELISA assays, on graft survival and evaluates the incidence of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Kidney graft survival at 8 years was significantly worse in patients with DSA. The incidence of AMR in patients with DSA was 9-fold higher than in patients without DSA and led to a significantly worse graft survival. The prevalence for AMR in patients with DSA detected on historic serum was 32.3% and was significantly more elevated in patients with strongly positive DSA (score 6-8) and in patients with his-toric positive crossmatches. Interestingly, those patients with DSA that did not experience AMR had the same graft survival as patients without DSA. Thus, the presence of preformed DSA is strongly associated with increased graft loss in kidney transplants, related to an increased risk of AMR. Our findings demonstrate the importance of detection and charac-terization of DSA before transplantation. Stratification of this immunological risk should be used both to determine kidney allocation and to devise specific strategies for these patients.

Combined anesthesia technique, dialysis for more than 60 months, basiliximab, and cold ischemia time > 12 hours are risk factor for DGF, while liberal fluid regimens and kidneys from living donors are protective factors.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract