Acute graft pyelonephritis: a potential cause of acute rejection in renal transplant.

Acute graft pyelonephritis is a common complication in renal transplant recipients. The consequences of this complication on kidney allograft survival remain controversial. Bacterial infection is likely to activate the immune system, potentially leading to acute or chronic rejection. Here, we report for the first time two documented cases of acute rejection occurring shortly after acute graft pyelonephritis, suggesting that pyelonephritis can initiate acute rejection. The immunologic process leading to the alloimmune response is discussed. These reports suggest that acute rejection should be questioned in case of atypical graft outcome in the context of acute graft pyelonephritis.

The long-term effect of switching from cyclosporin A to mycophenolate mofetil in chronic renal graft dysfunction compared with conventional management.

BACKGROUND: To overcome toxicity of calcineurin inhibitors, recent trials have proposed substituting cyclosporin (CysA) with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). No data concerning the long-term side effects and long-term renal outcome of this strategy have been published. METHODS: We retrospectively compared 39 renal transplant patients with chronic graft dysfunction who were subjected to CysA to MMF substitution (group 1) with 39 matched renal transplant patients who were continued on conventional management (group 2). The mean serum creatinine and the slope of deterioration of renal function before the date of the therapeutic intervention (T(0)) were similar in both groups. Follow-up in both groups was 76 +/- 42 months before T(0) and 44 +/- 11 months after T(0). RESULTS: In group 1, conversion was associated with a decrease of mean serum creatinine concentrations from 192 to 172 micro mol/l at 1 year (P = 0.004) and 159 micro mol/l at 3 years (P < 0.003) after T(0), whereas it remained unchanged in group 2. The systolic blood pressure decreased in group 1 from 155 mmHg before T(0) to 145 mmHg at 1 year (P < 0.01) and 133 mmHg at 3 years (P < 0.001) without any increase of the antihypertensive drug, whereas it did not change in group 2. Lipid profile tended to improve in group 1 after T(0) and was unchanged in group 2. None of the patients in group 1 developed acute rejection after T(0), whereas two acute rejections occurred in group 2. Graft survival, however, was similar in both groups. In group 1, several side effects occurred related to MMF treatment, and led to its discontinuation in two cases and the reduction of its dose for 18 patients (64%). CONCLUSION: CysA/MMF substitution improves renal function and blood pressure in chronic allograft dysfunction when compared with conventional management. However, CysA/MMF substitution is associated with a high rate of MMF-related side effects, requiring modulation of its dose.

Incidence of renal and liver rejection and patient survival rate following combined liver and kidney transplantation.

Multiple organ transplantations are used to treat chronic multiple organ failure. However, long-term mortality and graft tolerance remain to be evaluated. We carried out a retrospective and comparative analysis of 45 patients who underwent a combined liver and kidney (LK) transplantation (LKT) from the same donor. They were compared to 86 matched patients who underwent kidney (K) transplantation (KT). All patients had an organic renal failure associated with cirrhosis (n = 35) or with inherited disease (n = 10). Nineteen (42.9%) had been transplanted previously. The patients' survival rate was 85% at 1 year and 82% at 3 years. Seven patients died within the first 3 months, due to severe polymicrobial infection. Two patients in the LK population (4.2%) developed acute rejection of the kidney graft compared to 24 of the 86 matched renal transplanted patients (32.6%). In parallel, acute liver rejection was observed in 14 cases (31.1%) in the LK population. The occurrence of acute rejection was not associated with panel-reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies (n = 16), nor with positive cross-matches (n = 3). Four of the 45 patients (8.8%) subsequently developed chronic renal allograft rejection, and 16 cases of chronic hepatic dysfunction were noted (42.2%). In conclusion, the overall survival rate following combined liver kidney transplantation is acceptable, and LKT can be proposed to patients with kidney failure associated with liver dysfunction, primary oxaluria or amyloid neuropathy. The main cause of mortality in this population was severe infectious complications. The frequency of acute kidney rejection was lower than in single transplantation.