RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: CD30 is a membrane glycoprotein that belongs to the tumor necrosis factor superfamily. It is expressed on activated T cells. After activation of CD30(+) T cells, a soluble form of CD30 (sCD30) released into the bloodstream, can be measured in the serum. The aim of our study was to investigate the time course of serum levels of sCD30 during hepatic allograft rejection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum levels of sCD30 were determined in 30 healthy subjects and 50 hepatic transplant recipients. These patients were divided into two groups: group I, 35 patients without rejection; and group II, 15 patients with acute rejection. Samples were collected on day 1 and 7 after transplantation and on the day of liver biopsy. RESULTS: The concentrations of sCD30 were similar in the rejection (40.4 +/- 16.5 U/mL) and nonrejection groups (43.0 +/- 18.2 U/mL) on postoperative day 1. We observed a significant increase in sCD30 levels in the rejection group on postoperative day 7 (76.3 +/- 61.8 U/mL vs 46.8 +/- 20.5 U/mL; P = .01). The difference increased when a diagnosis of acute rejection had been established: namely 133.0 +/- 113.5 U/mL versus 40.1 +/- 22.0 U/mL; (P = .001). These levels were also significantly higher during the entire postoperative period in all the patients, with or without rejection, than those observed in healthy controls (26.6 +/- 5.3 U/mL; P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: The release of circulating sCD30 is a prominent feature coinciding with the first episode of hepatic allograft rejection. So, monitoring of sCD30 levels may be useful for the early diagnosis of an acute rejection episode.
