Extreme phenotype sampling and next generation sequencing to identify genetic variants associated with tacrolimus in African American kidney transplant recipients.

African American (AA) kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) have poor outcomes, which may in-part be due to tacrolimus (TAC) sub-optimal immunosuppression. We previously determined the common genetic regulators of TAC pharmacokinetics in AAs which were CYP3A5 *3, *6, and *7. To identify low-frequency variants that impact TAC pharmacokinetics, we used extreme phenotype sampling and compared individuals with extreme high (n = 58) and low (n = 60) TAC troughs (N = 515 AA KTRs). Targeted next generation sequencing was conducted in these two groups. Median TAC troughs in the high group were 7.7 ng/ml compared with 6.3 ng/ml in the low group, despite lower daily doses of 5 versus 12 mg, respectively. Of 34,542 identified variants across 99 genes, 1406 variants were suggestively associated with TAC troughs in univariate models (p-value < 0.05), however none were significant after multiple testing correction. We suggest future studies investigate additional sources of TAC pharmacokinetic variability such as drug-drug-gene interactions and pharmacomicrobiome.

Steroid-tacrolimus drug-drug interaction and the effect of CYP3A genotypes.

AIMS: Tacrolimus, metabolized by CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 enzymes, is susceptible to drug-drug interactions (DDI). Steroids induce CYP3A genes to increase tacrolimus clearance, but the effect is variable. We hypothesized that the extent of the steroid-tacrolimus DDI differs by CYP3A4/5 genotypes. METHODS: Kidney transplant recipients (n = 2462) were classified by the number of loss of function alleles (LOF) (CYP3A5*3, *6 and *7 and CYP3A4*22) and steroid use at each tacrolimus trough in the first 6 months post-transplant. A population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed by nonlinear mixed-effect modelling (NONMEM) and stepwise covariate modelling to define significant covariates affecting tacrolimus clearance. A stochastic simulation was performed and translated into a Shiny application with the mrgsolve and Shiny packages in R. RESULTS: Steroids were associated with modestly higher (3%-11.8%) tacrolimus clearance. Patients with 0-LOF alleles receiving steroids showed the greatest increase (11.8%) in clearance compared to no steroids, whereas those with 2-LOFs had a negligible increase (2.6%) in the presence of steroids. Steroid use increased tacrolimus clearance by 5% and 10.3% in patients with 1-LOF and 3/4-LOFs, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Steroids increase the clearance of tacrolimus but vary slightly by CYP3A genotype. This is important in individuals of African ancestry who are more likely to carry no LOF alleles, may more commonly receive steroid treatment, and will need higher tacrolimus doses.

Limited Sampling Strategies Fail to Accurately Predict Mycophenolic Acid Area Under the Curve in Kidney Transplant Recipients and the Impact of Enterohepatic Recirculation.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic drug monitoring for mycophenolic acid (MPA) is challenging due to difficulties in measuring the area under the curve (AUC). Limited sampling strategies (LSSs) have been developed for MPA therapeutic drug monitoring but come with risk of unacceptable performance. The authors hypothesized that the poor predictive performance of LSSs were due to the variability in MPA enterohepatic recirculation (EHR). This study is the first to evaluate LSSs models performance in the context of EHR. METHODS: Adult kidney transplant recipients (n = 84) receiving oral mycophenolate mofetil underwent intensive MPA pharmacokinetic sampling. MPA AUC0-12hr and EHR were determined. Published MPA LSSs in kidney transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus were evaluated for their predictive performance in estimating AUC0-12hr in our full cohort and separately in individuals with high and low EHR. RESULTS: None of the evaluated LSS models (n = 12) showed good precision or accuracy in predicting MPA AUC0-12hr in the full cohort. In the high EHR group, models with late timepoints had better accuracy but low precision, except for 1 model with late timepoints at 6 and 10 hours postdose, which had marginally acceptable precision. For all models, the good guess of predicted AUC0-12hr (±15% of observed AUC0-12hr) was highly variable (range, full cohort = 19%-61.9%; high EHR = 4.5%-65.9%; low EHR = 27.5%-62.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive performance of the LSS models varied according to EHR status. Timepoints ≥5 hours postdose in LSS models are essential to capture EHR. Models and strategies that incorporate EHR during development are required to accurately ascertain MPA exposure.

American Indian Perspectives on Culturally Aligning a Digital Smoking Cessation Resource.

INTRODUCTION: Innovative smoking cessation approaches that overcome barriers such as traveling to program site or that require the staff and infrastructure for sustaining are likely needed to improve smoking quit rates among American Indian (AI) peoples in the United States. In this study, qualitative methods identified recommendations from AI peoples to guide alignment of an evidence-based smoking cessation smartphone app (i.e., QuitGuide) to the culture and needs of AI persons. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with AI adults who smoke (n = 40) and with public health professionals (n = 6). Questions included: "The app asks if something triggered you to slip and lists several options. What options were you expecting to see on this list?" as well as how to make the app more engaging such as "What would make the app more helpful for AI peoples, like you, who want to quit smoking?." Constant comparative techniques were used to develop codes and themes. RESULTS: Loss, grief, and not accessing traditional tobacco were put forward as smoking triggers to be addressed in the app. Features that help users connect with and learn about AI cultures and promote healing, such as encouraging traditional tobacco use, being in community, embracing Native spirituality, and participating in cultural crafting were recommended. Some noted the need to motivate AI peoples to think about legacy and ability to care for younger generations and Indigenizing the app with Native imagery. CONCLUSIONS: Themes pointed towards promotion of strengths-based factors, such as healing, cultural connectedness and traditional tobacco use, in the app. IMPLICATIONS: Results will be used to culturally align a smartphone app for smoking cessation among AI peoples and may be insightful for other tribal, federal, and state public health efforts aimed at advancing health equity for AI peoples.

Higher number of tacrolimus dose adjustments in kidney transplant recipients who are extensive and intermediate CYP3A5 metabolizers.

Kidney transplant recipients carrying the CYP3A5*1 allele have lower tacrolimus troughs, and higher dose requirements compared to those with the CYP3A5*3/*3 genotype. However, data on the effect of CYP3A5 alleles on post-transplant tacrolimus management are lacking. The effect of CYP3A5 metabolism phenotypes on the number of tacrolimus dose adjustments and troughs in the first 6 months post-transplant was evaluated in 78 recipients (64% Caucasians). Time to first therapeutic concentration, percentage of time in therapeutic range (TTR), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were also evaluated. Fifty-five kidney transplant recipients were CYP3A5 poor metabolizers (PM), 17 were intermediate metabolizers (IM), and 6 were extensive metabolizers (EM). Compared to PMs, EMs/IMs had significantly more dose adjustments (6.1 vs. 8.1, p = .015). Overall, 33.82% of trough measurements resulted in a dose change. There was no difference in the number of tacrolimus trough measurements between PMs and EM/IMs. The total daily tacrolimus dose requirements were higher in EMs and IMs compared to PMs (<.001). TTR was ∼50% in the PMs and EMs/IMs groups. CYP3A5 EM/IM metabolizers have more tacrolimus dose changes and higher dose requirements which increases clinical management complexity. Larger studies are needed to assess the cost and benefits of including genotyping data to improve clinical management.

Exploring Potential for a Personalized Medicine Approach to Smoking Cessation With an American Indian Tribe.

INTRODUCTION: A potential precision medicine approach to smoking cessation is tailoring pharmacotherapy to a biomarker known as the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR). Little is known about the potential impact and acceptability of this approach for American Indian (AI) persons. AIMS AND METHODS: Tribal-academic collaboration was formed and during 2019-2020 AI adults who smoke(N = 54) were recruited to (1) examine correlations between NMR, dependence, and smoking exposure; (2) assess the extent to which pharmacotherapy preference aligned with NMR-informed recommendations; (3) explore acceptability of NMR-informed pharmacotherapy selection. Participants provided samples for assessment of salivary NMR and urinary total nicotine equivalents (TNE) and completed a questionnaire that assessed cigarettes per day (CPD), Fagerstrom Test for Cigarette Dependence (FTCD), pharmacotherapy preference, and perceptions of NMR-informed pharmacotherapy selection. RESULTS: Significant positive correlations were observed between NMR and FTCD (r = 0.29;p = .0383) and its abbreviated version Heaviness of Smoking Index (HIS) (r = 0.28;p =.0426). Post-hoc analyses suggest that relationships between dependence and NMR were driven by time to first cigarette. Nonsignificant, but directionally consistent, relationships were observed between NMR and CPD (r = 0.21; p =0.1436) and TNE (r = 0.24;p = .2906). Most participants preferred nicotine replacement therapy (71%) over varenicline (29%) and preference for pharmacotherapy matched NMR-based recommendations in 54% of participants. NMR-informed pharmacotherapy selection was supported by 62% of participants. CONCLUSION: In a sample of AI adults who smoke, NMR was related to cigarette dependence and about one-half of participants' pharmacotherapy preference matched their NMR-informed recommendation. There was lower acceptability of NMR-informed approach in this sample of AI adults than prior studies among white or black/African American people who smoke. IMPLICATIONS: Relationships between NMR, dependence, and self-preference for pharmacotherapy suggest that NMR-informed pharmacotherapy selection may have potential for enhancing smoking quitting success in this Tribe. Lower acceptability of NMR-informed pharmacotherapy in this Tribe suggests that this approach may not be equitably utilized. Future work could include identifying community-driven solutions to mitigate precision medicine concerns.

Pharmacogenomics in kidney transplant recipients and potential for integration into practice.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Pharmacogenomic biomarkers are now used in many clinical care settings and represent one of the successes of precision medicine. Genetic variants are associated with pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes leading to medication adverse effects and changes in clinical response. Actionable pharmacogenomic variants are common in transplant recipients and have implications for medications used in transplant, but yet are not broadly incorporated into practice. METHODS: From the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium and Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group guidelines, and PharmGKB databases, 12 pharmacogenomic genes with 30 variants were selected and used to create diplotypes and actionable pharmacogenomic phenotypes. A total of 853 kidney allograft recipients who had genomic information available from a genome-wide association study were included. RESULTS: Each recipient had at least one actionable pharmacogenomic diplotype/phenotype, whereas the majority (58%) had three or four actionable diplotypes/phenotypes and 17.4% had five or more among the 12 genes. The participants carried actionable diplotypes/phenotypes for multiple medications, including tacrolimus, azathioprine, clopidogrel, warfarin, simvastatin, voriconazole, antidepressants and proton-pump inhibitors. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Pharmacogenomic variants are common in transplant recipients, and transplant recipients receive medications that have actionable variants. CLINICAL TRIAL: Genomics of Transplantation, clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01714440).

Tacrolimus troughs and genetic determinants of metabolism in kidney transplant recipients: A comparison of four ancestry groups.

Tacrolimus trough and dose requirements vary dramatically between individuals of European and African American ancestry. These differences are less well described in other populations. We conducted an observational, prospective, multicenter study from which 2595 kidney transplant recipients of European, African, Native American, and Asian ancestry were studied for tacrolimus trough, doses, and genetic determinants of metabolism. We studied the well-known variants and conducted a CYP3A4/5 gene-wide analysis to identify new variants. Daily doses, and dose-normalized troughs were significantly different between the four groups (P < .001). CYP3A5*3 (rs776746) was associated with higher dose-normalized tacrolimus troughs in all groups but occurred at different allele frequencies and had differing effect sizes. The CYP3A5*6 (rs10264272) and *7 (rs413003343) variants were only present in African Americans. CYP3A4*22 (rs35599367) was not found in any of the Asian ancestry samples. We identified seven suggestive variants in the CYP3A4/5 genes associated with dose-normalized troughs in Native Americans (P = 1.1 × 10-5 -8.8 × 10-6 ) and one suggestive variant in Asian Americans (P = 5.6 × 10-6 ). Tacrolimus daily doses and dose-normalized troughs vary significantly among different ancestry groups. We identified potential new variants important in Asians and Native Americans. Studies with larger populations should be conducted to assess the importance of the identified suggestive variants.

Identification of genetic variants associated with tacrolimus metabolism in kidney transplant recipients by extreme phenotype sampling and next generation sequencing.

An extreme phenotype sampling (EPS) model with targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) identified genetic variants associated with tacrolimus (Tac) metabolism in subjects from the Deterioration of Kidney Allograft Function (DeKAF) Genomics cohort which included 1,442 European Americans (EA) and 345 African Americans (AA). This study included 48 subjects separated into 4 groups of 12 (AA high, AA low, EA high, EA low). Groups were selected by the extreme phenotype of dose-normalized Tac trough concentrations after adjusting for common genetic variants and clinical factors. NGS spanned > 3 Mb of 28 genes and identified 18,661 genetic variants (3961 previously unknown). A group of 125 deleterious variants, by SIFT analysis, were associated with Tac troughs in EAs (burden test, p = 0.008), CYB5R2 was associated with Tac troughs in AAs (SKAT, p = 0.00079). In CYB5R2, rs61733057 (increased allele frequency in AAs) was predicted to disrupt protein function by SIFT and PolyPhen2 analysis. The variants merit further validation.

Tacrolimus trough and dose intra-patient variability and CYP3A5 genotype: Effects on acute rejection and graft failure in European American and African American kidney transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal immunosuppression after kidney transplantation contributes to toxicity and loss of efficacy. Little is known regarding the impact of intra-patient variability of tacrolimus (TAC) doses and troughs in the early post-transplant period or the influence of genetic variants on variability. METHODS: Coefficients of variation (CV) of TAC troughs and doses of 1226 European American (EA) and 246 African American (AA) adult recipients enrolled in DeKAF Genomics were compared for association with acute rejection and graft failure. Additionally, the influence of recipients' number of CYP3A5 loss-of-function alleles was assessed. RESULTS: Acute rejection was associated with greater CV of dose in AA (P < 0.001) and EA recipients (P = 0.012). Graft failure was associated with a greater CV of dose (P = 0.022) and trough (P < 0.001) in AA, and higher CV of trough (P = 0.024) in EA recipients. In EA, CYP3A5 loss-of-function alleles were associated with decreased CV of trough (P = 0.0042) and increased CV of dose (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: CYP3A5 loss-of-function alleles influence intra-patient TAC trough and dose variability. High variability of TAC dose increases risk of acute rejection. High variability of TAC trough increases risk of graft failure. Early clinical recognition of TAC dose and trough variability may improve patient management and outcomes.

Genetics of acute rejection after kidney transplantation.

Treatment of acute rejection (AR) following kidney transplantation has improved in recent years, but there are still limitations to successful outcomes. This review article covers literature in regard to recipient and donor genetics of AR kidney and secondarily of liver allografts. Many candidate gene and some genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been conducted for AR in kidney transplantation. Genetic associations with AR in kidney and liver are mostly weak, and in most cases, the associations have not been reproducible. A limitation in the study of AR is the lack of sufficiently large populations that account for population stratification to study the AR phenotype which in this era occurs in <10% of transplants. Furthermore, the AR phenotype has been difficult to define and the definitions of classifications have evolved over time. Literature related to the pharmacogenomics of tacrolimus is robust and has been validated in many studies. Associations between gene expression and AR are emerging as markers of outcomes and AR classification. In the future, combinations of pretransplant genotype for AR risk prediction, genotype-based immune suppressant dosing, and pharmacogenomic markers to select AR maintenance or treatment and expression markers from biopsies may provide valuable clinical tools for guiding treatment.

CRISPR/Cas9 Genetic Modification of CYP3A5 *3 in HuH-7 Human Hepatocyte Cell Line Leads to Cell Lines with Increased Midazolam and Tacrolimus Metabolism.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 engineering of the CYP3A5 *3 locus (rs776746) in human liver cell line HuH-7 (CYP3A5 *3/*3) has led to three CYP3A5 *1 cell lines by deletion of the exon 3B splice junction or point mutation. Cell lines CYP3A5 *1/*3 sd (single deletion), CYP3A5 *1/*1 dd (double deletion), or CYP3A5 *1/*3 pm (point mutation) expressed the CYP3A5 *1 mRNA and had elevated CYP3A5 mRNA (P < 0.0005 for all engineered cell lines) and protein expression compared with HuH-7. In metabolism assays, HuH-7 had less tacrolimus (all P < 0.05) or midazolam (MDZ) (all P < 0.005) disappearance than all engineered cell lines. HuH-7 had less 1-OH MDZ (all P < 0.0005) or 4-OH (all P < 0.005) production in metabolism assays than all bioengineered cell lines. We confirmed CYP3A5 metabolic activity with the CYP3A4 selective inhibitor CYP3CIDE. This is the first report of genomic CYP3A5 bioengineering in human cell lines with drug metabolism analysis.

Opportunities and challenges for immunosuppression in the context of pig-to-human xenotransplantation.

The transplantation of organ(s) across species may alleviate the shortage of available donor kidneys for an ever-growing number of patients on transplant waiting lists. However, this potential remains limited by uncharacterized physiologic and immune effects of xenotransplants in recipients, which Pan et al.1 investigated in the current study.

Polygenic risk score for acute rejection based on donor-recipient non-HLA genotype mismatch.

BACKGROUND: Acute rejection (AR) after kidney transplantation is an important allograft complication. To reduce the risk of post-transplant AR, determination of kidney transplant donor-recipient mismatching focuses on blood type and human leukocyte antigens (HLA), while it remains unclear whether non-HLA genetic mismatching is related to post-transplant complications. METHODS: We carried out a genome-wide scan (HLA and non-HLA regions) on AR with a large kidney transplant cohort of 784 living donor-recipient pairs of European ancestry. An AR polygenic risk score (PRS) was constructed with the non-HLA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) filtered by independence (r2 < 0.2) and P-value (< 1×10-3) criteria. The PRS was validated in an independent cohort of 352 living donor-recipient pairs. RESULTS: By the genome-wide scan, we identified one significant SNP rs6749137 with HR = 2.49 and P-value = 2.15×10-8. 1,307 non-HLA PRS SNPs passed the clumping plus thresholding and the PRS exhibited significant association with the AR in the validation cohort (HR = 1.54, 95% CI = (1.07, 2.22), p = 0.019). Further pathway analysis attributed the PRS genes into 13 categories, and the over-representation test identified 42 significant biological processes, the most significant of which is the cell morphogenesis (GO:0000902), with 4.08 fold of the percentage from homo species reference and FDR-adjusted P-value = 8.6×10-4. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show the importance of donor-recipient mismatching in non-HLA regions. Additional work will be needed to understand the role of SNPs included in the PRS and to further improve donor-recipient genetic matching algorithms. Trial registry: Deterioration of Kidney Allograft Function Genomics (NCT00270712) and Genomics of Kidney Transplantation (NCT01714440) are registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Pharmacomicrobiomics: Immunosuppressive Drugs and Microbiome Interactions in Transplantation.

The human microbiome is associated with human health and disease. Exogenous compounds, including pharmaceutical products, are also known to be affected by the microbiome, and this discovery has led to the field of pharmacomicobiomics. The microbiome can also alter drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, possibly resulting in side effects, toxicities, and unanticipated disease response. Microbiome-mediated effects are referred to as drug-microbiome interactions (DMI). Rapid advances in the field of pharmacomicrobiomics have been driven by the availability of efficient bacterial genome sequencing methods and new computational and bioinformatics tools. The success of fecal microbiota transplantation for recurrent Clostridioides difficile has fueled enthusiasm and research in the field. This review focuses on the pharmacomicrobiome in transplantation. Alterations in the microbiome in transplant recipients are well documented, largely because of prophylactic antibiotic use, and the potential for DMI is high. There is evidence that the gut microbiome may alter the pharmacokinetic disposition of tacrolimus and result in microbiome-specific tacrolimus metabolites. The gut microbiome also impacts the enterohepatic recirculation of mycophenolate, resulting in substantial changes in pharmacokinetic disposition and systemic exposure. The mechanisms of these DMI and the specific bacteria or communities of bacteria are under investigation. There are little or no human DMI data for cyclosporine A, corticosteroids, and sirolimus. The available evidence in transplantation is limited and driven by small studies of heterogeneous designs. Larger clinical studies are needed, but the potential for future clinical application of the pharmacomicrobiome in avoiding poor outcomes is high.

Extreme Phenotype Sampling and Next Generation Sequencing to Identify Genetic Variants Associated with Tacrolimus in African American Kidney Transplant Recipients.

African American (AA) kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) have poor outcomes, which may in-part be due to tacrolimus (TAC) sub-optimal immunosuppression. We previously determined the common genetic regulators of TAC pharmacokinetics in AAs which were CYP3A5 *3, *6, and *7. To identify low-frequency variants that impact TAC pharmacokinetics, we used extreme phenotype sampling and compared individuals with extreme high (n=58) and low (n=60) TAC troughs (N=515 AA KTRs). Targeted next generation sequencing was conducted in these two groups. Median TAC troughs in the high group were 7.7 ng/ml compared with 6.3 ng/ml in the low group, despite lower daily doses of 5 versus 12mg, respectively. Of 34,542 identified variants across 99 genes, 1,406 variants were suggestively associated with TAC troughs in univariate models (p-value <0.05), however none were significant after multiple testing correction. We suggest future studies investigate additional sources of TAC pharmacokinetic variability such as drug-drug-gene interactions and pharmacomicrobiome.

Triterpene derivatives that inhibit human immunodeficiency virus type 1 replication.

Triterpene derivatives were analyzed for anti-HIV-1 activity and for cellular toxicity. Betulinic aldehyde, betulinic nitrile, and morolic acid derivatives were identified to have anti-HIV-1 activity. These derivatives inhibit a late step in virus replication, likely virus maturation.

Precision Dosing for Tacrolimus Using Genotypes and Clinical Factors in Kidney Transplant Recipients of European Ancestry.

Genetic variation in the CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 (CYP3A4/5) genes, which encode the key enzymes in tacrolimus metabolism, is associated with tacrolimus clearance and dose requirements. Tacrolimus has a narrow therapeutic index with high intra- and intersubject variability, in part because of genetic variation. High tacrolimus clearance and low trough concentration are associated with a greater risk for rejection, whereas high troughs are associated with calcineurin-induced toxicity. The objective of this study was to develop a model of tacrolimus clearance with a dosing equation accounting for genotypes and clinical factors in adult kidney transplant recipients of European ancestry that could preemptively guide dosing. Recipients receiving immediate-release tacrolimus for maintenance immunosuppression from 2 multicenter studies were included. Participants in the GEN03 study were used for tacrolimus model development (n = 608 recipients) and was validated by prediction performance in the DeKAF Genomics study (n = 1361 recipients). Nonlinear mixed-effects modeling was used to develop the apparent oral tacrolimus clearance (CL/F) model. CYP3A4/5 genotypes and clinical covariates were tested for their influence on CL/F. The predictive performance of the model was determined by assessing the bias (median prediction error [ME] and median percentage error [MPE]) and the precision (root median squared error [RMSE]) of the model. CYP3A5*3, CYP3A4*22, corticosteroids, calcium channel blocker and antiviral drug use, age, and diabetes significantly contributed to the interindividual variability of oral tacrolimus apparent clearance. The bias (ME, MPE) and precision (RMSE) of the final model was good, 0.49 ng/mL, 6.5%, and 3.09 ng/mL, respectively. Prospective testing of this equation is warranted.

Analysis of 75 Candidate SNPs Associated With Acute Rejection in Kidney Transplant Recipients: Validation of rs2910164 in MicroRNA MIR146A.

BACKGROUND: Identifying kidney allograft recipients who are predisposed to acute rejection (AR) could allow for optimization of clinical treatment to avoid rejection and prolong graft survival. It has been hypothesized that a part of this predisposition is caused by the inheritance of specific genetic variants. There are many publications reporting a statistically significant association between a genetic variant, usually in the form of a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and AR. However, there are additional publications reporting a lack of this association when a different cohort of recipients is analyzed for the same single-nucleotide polymorphism. METHODS: In this report, we attempted to validate 75 common genetic variants, which have been previously reported to be associated with AR, using a large kidney allograft recipient cohort of 2390 European Americans and 482 African Americans. RESULTS: Of those variants tested, only 1 variant, rs2910164, which alters the expression of the microRNA MIR146A, was found to exhibit a significant association within the African American cohort. Suggestive variants were found in the genes CTLA and TLR4. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that most variants previously reported to be associated with AR were not validated in our cohort. This shows the importance of validation when reporting the associations with complex clinical outcomes such as AR. Additional work will need to be done to understand the role of MIR146A in the risk of AR in kidney allograft recipients.