Kidney Transplantation in HIV-Positive Patients: A Single-Center, 16-Year Experience.

Hahnemann University Hospital has performed 120 kidney transplantations in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals during the last 16 years. Our patient population represents ∼10% of the entire US population of HIV-positive kidney recipients. In our earlier years of HIV transplantation, we noted increased rejection rates, often leading to graft failure. We have established a multidisciplinary team and over the years have made substantial protocol modifications based on lessons learned. These modifications affected our approach to candidate evaluation, donor selection, perioperative immunosuppression, and posttransplantation monitoring and resulted in excellent posttransplantation outcomes, including 100% patient and graft survival at 1 year and patient and graft survival at 3 years of 100% and 96%, respectively. We present key clinical data, including a granular patient-level analysis of the associations of antiretroviral therapy regimens with long-term survival, cellular and antibody-mediated rejection rates, and the causes of allograft failures. In summary, we provide details on the evolution of our approach to HIV transplantation during the last 16 years, including strategies that may improve outcomes among HIV-positive kidney transplantation candidates throughout the United States.

Effect of rosuvastatin on C-reactive protein and renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease.

The purpose of this 20-week, open-label, randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of rosuvastatin on fasting serum lipids and lipoproteins, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in 91 patients with chronic kidney disease. Patients were randomized to rosuvastatin 10 mg/day (n = 48) or to no lipid-lowering treatment (n = 43) for 20 weeks. In contrast to patients not receiving rosuvastatin, patients receiving rosuvastatin tended to derive more favorable improvements from baseline values in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-43%, p <0.001, vs 7%, p = NS; p <0.001 for change with rosuvastatin treatment vs change with no antilipemic treatment), hs-CRP (-47%, p <0.001, vs 7%, p = NS; p <0.001 for change with rosuvastatin treatment vs change with no antilipemic treatment), and GFR (11%, p <0.05, vs 4%, p = NS; p = NS for change with rosuvastatin treatment vs change with no antilipemic treatment).

Bone disease in organ transplant patients: pathogenesis and management.

Bone disease is common in recipients of kidney, heart, lung, liver, and bone marrow transplants, and causes debilitating complications, such as osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, bone pain, and fractures. The frequency of fractures ranges from 6% to 45% for kidney transplant recipients to 22% to 42% for heart, lung, and liver transplant recipients. Bone disease in transplant patients is the sum of complex mechanisms that involve both preexisting bone disease before transplant and post-transplant bone loss due to the effects of immunosuppressive medications. Evaluation of bone disease should preferably start before the transplant or in the early post-transplant period and include assessment of bone mineral density and other metabolic factors that influence bone health. This requires close coordination between the primary care physician and transplant team. Patients should be stratified based on their fracture risk. Prevention and treatment include risk factor reduction, antiresorptive medications, such as bisphosphonates and calcitonin, calcitriol, and/or gonadal hormone replacement. A steroid-avoidance protocol may be considered.

High frequency of rejections in HIV-positive recipients of kidney transplantation: a single center prospective trial.

BACKGROUND: This is a single institution report of the incidence of combined acute antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) + acute cellular rejection (ACR) [mixed rejection] in HIV (+) kidney transplant recipients. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 92 HIV (+) patients who received a kidney transplant between 2001 and 2009. There were three cohorts: no rejection [n=26], ACR [n=53], and mixed rejections (ABMR and ACR) [n=13]. Immunosuppression comprised of basiliximab, cyclosporine, sirolimus, and steroid minimization. Fisher exact tests for categorical variables, t test for continuous variables, and Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to describe events. RESULTS: Mixed rejections were seen in all 13 HIV (+) kidney transplant recipients (14%) with a median time to ABMR of 48 days. Acute cellular rejection occurred in 28% at 1 month and 55% at 12 months. eGFR was lower for recipients who experienced ABMR versus those experiencing ACR and those never experiencing rejection up to 3 years (14 ± 9.4 vs 19 ± 3.3 vs 29 ± 7.3 mL/min, respectively). Kaplan-Meier showed that graft survival up to 9 years was worse in recipients experiencing mixed rejection. Suboptimal donors with terminal creatinine greater than 2.5 mg/dL was associated with increased incidence of mixed rejections versus cellular rejections and no rejection (42% vs 17% vs. 8%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our single center study showed a relatively higher incidence of mixed rejection compared with that reported for non-HIV transplant recipients. A donor terminal serum creatinine greater than 2.5 mg/dL predicted mixed rejection, which was associated with poor outcomes. Donor selection and optimization of immunosuppression may be critical in these patients.