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Objective:To summarize the incidence of acute rejection (AR) after pediatric kidney transplantation (KT) at a single center and examine its impact on graft/patient survival and risk factors for AR.Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study including pediatric recipients who underwent kidney transplantation in past 8 years.After excluding recipients of graft thrombosis within a week post-transplant and lost to follow-ups, a total of 143 cases were ultimately recruited and assigned into two groups of AR (n=29) and non-AR (n=114).Basic profiles of both donors and recipients and graft/patient survival rate were compared between two groups.Relative risk factors for AR episodes were also examined by Logistic regression.Results:Renal grafts for 130/143 cases (90.9%) were harvested from deceased donors and 120(83.9%) cases from children.Twenty-seven transplants (18.9%) were performed in infants and young recipients aged < 3 years.During a median follow-up of 33 months, 34 AR episodes occurred in 29(20.3%) patients.Rate of re-transplantation (27.6% vs. 7.9%), pediatric donor (96.5% vs. 80.7%) and rabbit anti-human thymocyte globulin (rATG) induction (79.3% vs. 36%) were significantly higher in AR group than non-AR group ( P=0.007, P=0.046, P<0.001).Multivariate regression analysis indicated that basiliximab induction caused a significant reduction in the risk of AR incidence as compared with rATG induction (odds ratio 0.13, 95% confidence interval 0.04-0.43, P<0.001).The median time of AR incidence was 1.3 months post-transplantation and 23 episodes (67.6%) were confirmed by biopsy.After anti-rejection treatment, 52.9%(n=18) of the cases achieved a full recovery and 38.3% (n=13) had improved graft function.However, 3 cases (8.8%) developed irreversible graft failure.The 1/3-year graft survival rates were significantly lower in AR group than those in non-AR group (75.3% vs. 95.2%, 68.4% vs. 90.4%, P=0.01), and there was no significant difference in 1-and 3-year patient survival rates between two groups. Conclusions:The incidence of AR is relatively high in pediatric renal transplantation, which has an impact on graft survival.Basiliximab induction can effectively reduce the risk of AR.
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Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics and treatment of cytomegalovirus(CMV)infection in pediatric kidney transplant patients.Methods:From May 2014 to July 2021, a total of 9 cases(8.65%)of 104 pediatric kidney transplant recipients were diagnosed with CMV infection in our centre.Retrospective data was collected for these 9 paediatric recipients.The clinical characteristics of the disease, treatment data and outcomes were summarized.Results:The median age of the 9 children was 10 years(0.25-15 years), 6 of whom were treated with polyclonal antibody for immunity induction.CMV IgG was negative in 4 children before renal transplantation.Only one patient received anti-CMV prophylaxis.The median time from transplant to the diagnosis of CMV infection was 22(7-15)days.Among the 9 children, 7 had fever, pneumonia and diarrhea, 2 had no typical symptoms, three patients were complicated with viral, bacterial or fungal infections.Acute rejection occurred in 3 patients at the same time as CMV infection or after CMV DNA turned negative.Nine patients were cured and discharged after ganciclovir or valganciclovir treatment.Median time of CMV DNA negative transformation was 32(17-90)days.Conclusions:Pediatric transplant recipients are at particularly elevated risk of CMV disease.Antiviral prophylaxis should be initiated early after transplantation.
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Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of a novel Tripterygium preparation (Kunxian Capsules)in kidney transplant recipients developing refractory proteinuria after transplantation.Methods:A total of 59 kidney transplant recipients received regular follow-ups from August 2018 to July 2021.Severity of proteinuria, kidney graft function and adverse effects were retrospectively recorded before and at Month 1/2/3/6 months after Kunxian treatment.They were divided into two groups of effective and void to explore the potential effect-related factors.Results:Six-month treatment was completed in 57 patients except for 2 cases of discontinued treatment due to severe adverse effects.A significant reduction in amount of proteinuria was observed at Month 1 [1.09(0.42, 2.59 g/24 h)vs 1.82(1, 2.7 g/24 h, P<0.01)]and the trend continued during subsequent follow-ups.Twenty-nine patients(50.9%)responded remarkably.Eighteen patients(31.6%)showed no response.The overall effective rate was 68.4%.Inter-group comparison revealed strong correlations between treatment efficacy and baseline serum creatinine levels, early initiation of treatment and symptom duration from onset to treatment.Kidney graft IgA nephropathy demonstrated the highest effective rate(11/13, 84.6%). Furthermore, elevated blood concentration of tacrolimus hinted at a potential drug interaction. Conclusions:Kunxian Capsules is efficacious and safe for renal transplant recipients developing moderate-severe proteinuria and not responding to traditional medications.Early initiation of treatment before graft function decline is recommended.Reducing tacrolimus dose cautiously in advance and monitoring adverse events are also essential.
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Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics and therapeutic drug selection of post-transplantation diabetes mellitus(PTDM)after kidney transplantation in children.Methods:From May 2014 to March 2021, a total of 5 cases(5.38%)of 93 paediatric kidney transplant recipients with a median follow-up period of 34 months were diagnosed with PTDM in our centre.Retrospective data analysis was performed for these 5 paediatric recipients.The characteristics of the disease, treatment data and outcomes were summarized.Among the five paediatric recipients, one was male and four patients were female, ranging the age from 12 to 17 years.All recipients received a tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen with prednisone discontinued no later than 3 months after kidney transplant.Results:The onset of PTDM ranged from 1 month to 46 months(median: 17 months)after transplantation.The blood glucose of two children returned to normal gradually after tacrolimus conversion to cyclosporine, with one of them was given insulin temporarily.Three children received oral hypoglycaemic agents, including one received acarbose, one received metformin, and one received metformin combined with acarbose.After a median follow-up of 6 months, the levels of blood glucose in five children were stable, and there was no significant change in serum creatinine and urine protein.Conclusions:The treatment of PTDM in children should be individualized with considering of age, gender and immunosuppressive regimen. Switch from tacrolimus to cyclosporine is effective. Metformin or other hypoglycemic agentsis helpful when tacrolimus is maintained.
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Objective To compare the change features of anti-donor specific antibody (DSA) in different species of sentitized mice after skin transplantation. Methods All mice were divided into the Balb/c → C57BL/6 (6 pairs) and Balb/c → C3H skin transplantation groups (6 pairs). At d0, d2, d4, d7, d13, d17, d28, d35, d42, d49 and d56 after skin transplantation, the serum sample was prepared for detection of DSA-IgG and DSA-IgM levels. Results Moderate increase was noted in the DSA-IgG level in the sensitized mice within 1 week after skin transplantation. The IgG level was significantly increased within 1-4 week and peaked and stabilized within 4-8 week. No significant variation was observed in the DSA-IgM level at 8 weeks after skin transplantation. In the Balb/c → C57BL/6 skin transplantation group, the DSAIgG level was significantly lower than that in the Balb/c → C3H group. Statistical significance was identified in the IgG levels between two groups at d2, d17, d28, d35, d42, d49 and d56 after skin transplantation (all P<0.05). No statistical significance was noted in the DSA-IgM levels between two groups at each time point (all P>0.05). Conclusions Advancing the time of renal transplantation after skin transplantation moderately in the Balb/c → C3H group, or changing to the lower immunoreactive combination of Balb/c → C57BL/6 are aimed to establish AMR mouse models with mild rejection reaction.