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Kidney transplant patients treated with belatacept without depletional induction experience higher rates of acute rejection compared to patients treated with conventional immunosuppression. Costimulation blockade-resistant rejection (CoBRR) is associated with terminally differentiated T cells. Alemtuzumab induction and belatacept/sirolimus immunotherapy effectively prevent CoBRR. We hypothesized that cells in late phases of differentiation would be selectively less capable than more naive phenotypes of repopulating postdepletion, providing a potential mechanism by which lymphocyte depletion and repopulation could reduce the risk of CoBRR. Lymphocytes from 20 recipients undergoing alemtuzumab-induced depletion and belatacept/sirolimus immunosuppression were studied longitudinally for markers of maturation (CCR7, CD45RA, CD57, PD1), recent thymic emigration (CD31), and the IL-7 receptor-α (IL-7Rα). Serum was analyzed for IL-7. Alemtuzumab induction produced profound lymphopenia followed by repopulation, during which naive IL-7Rα CD57 PD1 cells progressively became the predominant subset. This did not occur in a comparator group of 10 patients treated with conventional immunosuppression. Serum from depleted patients showed markedly elevated IL-7 levels posttransplantation. Sorted CD57 PD1 cells demonstrated robust proliferation in response to IL-7, whereas more differentiated cells proliferated poorly. These data suggest that differences in IL-7-dependent proliferation is one exploitable mechanism that distinguishes CoB-sensitive and CoB-resistant T cell populations to reduce the risk of CoBRR. (ClinicalTrials.gov - NCT00565773.).

Acute pancreatitis is a common disease that can progress to gland necrosis, which imposes significant risk of morbidity and mortality. In general, the treatment for pancreatitis is a supportive therapy. However, there are several reasons to escalate to surgery or another intervention. This review discusses the pathophysiology as well as medical and interventional management of necrotizing pancreatitis. Current evidence suggests that patients are best served by delaying interventions for at least 4 weeks, draining as a first resort, and debriding recalcitrant tissue using minimally invasive techniques to promote or enhance postoperative recovery while reducing wound-related complications.

This study objectively determines that a threshold preoperative serum albumin of ≥3.9 mg/dL is associated with improved outcomes in elective colorectal surgery patients. Each 0.5 mg/dL decrease in albumin was progressively associated with increased risk for complications. Identifying a minimum albumin threshold has implications in perioperative optimization of patients undergoing colorectal surgery.

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