[Kidney transplantation in patients with donor specific antibodies]

Abstract

In renal transplantation, donor specific antibodies (DSAs) detected by sensitive solid-phase assay foresee early antibody-mediated rejections, even with negative complement-dependent cytotoxicity or flow cytometry results. We describe the immunosuppression protocols and outcomes at 10 months of four renal transplant patients in whom anti-HLA DSAs were detected by Luminex® but not by CDC and flow cytometry. The four patients underwent induction treatment with five doses of thymoglobulin at 1.25 mg/kg and 5 doses of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) at 400 mg/kg. In addition, one patient received 20 mg basiliximab on the day of transplant and on post-operative day 4; another patient underwent three sessions of plasmapheresis on days -5, -3, and -1 and also received 1200 mg eculizumab prior to transplant, 900 mg on day 1, and 600 mg each week during one month. In all of them, the maintenance immunosuppressive regimen consisted of tacrolimus, mycophenolate acid and deltisone. All patients had good short-term outcomes. Our findings suggest that patients with anti-HLA DSAs detected only by Luminex® should be monitored closely and can be treated successfully with induction therapy based on thymoglobulin and IVIG.

Keywords: immunosuppression; kidney transplantation; preformed DSA.