Prophylactic treatment of FSGS recurrence in patients who relapsed in a previous kidney graft.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Recurrence of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is common after kidney transplantation and is classically associated with a significant decrease in graft survival. A major risk factor is a prior history of FSGS recurrence on a previous graft. This analysis reports the impact of a prophylactic treatment of FSGS recurrence in very high-risk patients who experienced a recurrence on a previous graft. METHODS: We performed a retrospective multicentre observational study in 25 French transplantation centres. The inclusion criteria were patients aged more than 18 years who had undergone kidney transplant between December 31, 2004, and December 31, 2020, and who had a history of FSGS recurrence on a previous graft. RESULTS: We identified 66 patients: 40 received prophylactic treatment (PT+), including intravenous cyclosporine and/or rituximab and/or plasmapheresis, and 26 did not receive any prophylactic treatment (PT-). The time to progression to end-stage kidney disease was similar between groups. The PT + group was younger at FSGS diagnosis and at the time of kidney retransplantation and lost their previous graft faster. The overall recurrence rate was 72.7% (76.9% in the PT- group and 70.0% in the PT + group, P = 0.54). At least partial remission was achieved in 87.5% of patients. The 5-year graft survival was 67.7% (95% CI: 53.4 to 78.4%): 65.1% (95%CI: 48.7 to 77.4%) in patients with FSGS recurrence vs. 77.3% (95% CI: 43.8 to 92.3%) in patients without recurrence (P = 0.48). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that prophylactic treatment should not be used routinely in patients receiving a second transplantation after recurrence of FSGS on a previous graft. The recurrence rate is high regardless of the use of prophylactic treatment. However, the 5-year graft survival remains satisfactory.

The spectrum of glomerular and vascular kidney pathology associated with myeloproliferative neoplasms.

A high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) occurs in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). However, MPN-related glomerulopathy (MPN-RG) may not account for the entirety of CKD risk in this population. The systemic vasculopathy encountered in these patients raises the hypothesis that vascular nephrosclerosis may be a common pattern of injury in patients with MPN and with CKD. In an exhaustive, retrospective, multicenter study of MPN kidney biopsies in four different pathology departments, we now describe glomerular and vascular lesions and establish clinicopathologic correlations. Our study encompassed 47 patients with MPN who underwent a kidney biopsy that included 16 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and 31 patients with non-CML MPN. Fourteen cases met a proposed definition of MPN-RG based on mesangial sclerosis and hypercellularity, as well as glomerular thrombotic microangiopathy. MPN-RG was significantly associated with both myelofibrosis and poorer kidney survival. Thirty-three patients had moderate-to-severe arteriosclerosis while 39 patients had moderate-to-severe arteriolar hyalinosis. Multivariable models that included 188 adult native kidney biopsies as controls revealed an association between MPN and chronic kidney vascular damage, which was independent of established risk factors such as age, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Therefore, MPN-RG is associated with myelofibrosis and has a poor kidney prognosis. Thus, our findings suggest that the kidney vasculature is a target during MPN-associated vasculopathy and establish a new link between MPN and CKD. Hence, these results may raise new hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology of vascular nephrosclerosis in the general population.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy in association with inflammatory bowel diseases: results from a national study and systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about clinical characteristics and kidney outcomes in patients with biopsy-proven immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) in a context of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective multicentre study with a centralized histological review to analyse the presentation, therapeutic management and outcome of 24 patients suffering from IBD-associated IgAN relative to a cohort of 134 patients with primary IgAN without IBD. RESULTS: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis accounted for 75 and 25% of IBD-associated IgAN cases, respectively. IBD was diagnosed before IgAN in 23 cases (a mean of 9 years previously) and was considered active at IgAN onset in 23.6% of patients. Hypertension was present in 41.7% of patients. The urinary protein:creatinine ratio exceeded 100 mg/mmol in 70.8% of patients (mean 254 mg/mmol). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was >60 mL/min/1.73 m2 in 13/24 patients and only 1 patient required dialysis. In the Oxford mesangial hypercellularity, endocapillary cellularity, segmental sclerosis and interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy with crescents classification of renal biopsies, 57% were M1, 48% E1, 76% S1, 57% T1-2 and 38% C1-2. Steroids were administered in 50% of cases. After a mean follow-up of 7.2 years, 4 patients (16.7%) had a poor kidney outcome: end-stage renal disease (n = 3) or a >50% decrease in eGFR from initial values (n = 1). A similar evolution was observed in patients with primitive IgAN. CONCLUSIONS: This first case series suggests that IBD-associated IgAN has frequent inflammatory lesions at onset and variable long-term outcomes.

Reappraisal of Renal Arteritis in ANCA-associated Vasculitis: Clinical Characteristics, Pathology, and Outcome.

BACKGROUND: Renal involvement in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) is associated with poor outcomes. The clinical significance of arteritis of the small kidney arteries has not been evaluated in detail. METHODS: In a multicenter cohort of patients with AAV and renal involvement, we sought to describe the clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with AAV who had renal arteritis at diagnosis, and to retrospectively analyze their prognostic value. RESULTS: We included 251 patients diagnosed with AAV and renal involvement between 2000 and 2019, including 34 patients (13.5%) with arteritis. Patients with AAV-associated arteritis were older, and had a more pronounced inflammatory syndrome compared with patients without arteritis; they also had significantly lower renal survival (P=0.01). In multivariable analysis, the ANCA renal risk score, age at diagnosis, history of diabetes mellitus, and arteritis on index kidney biopsy were independently associated with ESKD. The addition of the arteritis status significantly improved the discrimination of the ANCA renal risk score, with a concordance index (C-index) of 0.77 for the ANCA renal risk score alone, versus a C-index of 0.80 for the ANCA renal risk score plus arteritis status (P=0.008); ESKD-free survival was significantly worse for patients with an arteritis involving small arteries who were classified as having low or moderate risk, according to the ANCA renal risk score. In two external validation cohorts, we confirmed the incidence and phenotype of this AAV subtype. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest AAV with renal arteritis represents a different subtype of AAV with specific clinical and histologic characteristics. The prognostic contribution of the arteritis status remains to be prospectively confirmed.

T cell-mediated rejection is a major determinant of inflammation in scarred areas in kidney allografts.

Inflammation in fibrosis areas (i-IF/TA) of kidney allografts is associated with allograft loss; however, its diagnostic significance remains to be determined. We investigated the clinicohistologic phenotype and determinants of i-IF/TA in a prospective cohort of 1539 kidney recipients undergoing evaluation of i-IF/TA and tubulitis in atrophic tubules (t-IF/TA) on protocol allograft biopsies performed at 1 year posttransplantation. We considered donor, recipient, and transplant characteristics, immunosuppression, and histological diagnoses in 2260 indication biopsies performed within the first year posttransplantation. Nine hundred forty-six (61.5%) patients presented interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy (IF/TA Banff grade > 0) at 1 year posttransplant, among whom 394 (41.6%) showed i-IF/TA. i-IF/TA correlated with concurrent t-IF/TA (P < .001), interstitial inflammation (P < .001), tubulitis (P < .001), total inflammation (P < .001), peritubular capillaritis (P < .001), interstitial fibrosis (P < .001), and tubular atrophy (P = .02). The independent determinants of i-IF/TA were previous T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) (P < .001), BK virus nephropathy (P = .007), steroid therapy (P = .039), calcineurin inhibitor therapy (P = .011), inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase inhibitor therapy (P = .011), HLA-B mismatches (P = .012), and HLA-DR mismatches (P = .044). TCMR patients with i-IF/TA on posttreatment biopsy (N = 83/136, 61.0%) exhibited accelerated progression of IF/TA over time (P = .01) and decreased 8-year allograft survival (70.8% vs 83.5%, P = .038) compared to those without posttreatment i-IF/TA. Our results support that i-IF/TA may represent a manifestation of chronic active TCMR.

Value of Donor-Specific Anti-HLA Antibody Monitoring and Characterization for Risk Stratification of Kidney Allograft Loss.

The diagnosis system for allograft loss lacks accurate individual risk stratification on the basis of donor-specific anti-HLA antibody (anti-HLA DSA) characterization. We investigated whether systematic monitoring of DSA with extensive characterization increases performance in predicting kidney allograft loss. This prospective study included 851 kidney recipients transplanted between 2008 and 2010 who were systematically screened for DSA at transplant, 1 and 2 years post-transplant, and the time of post-transplant clinical events. We assessed DSA characteristics and performed systematic allograft biopsies at the time of post-transplant serum evaluation. At transplant, 110 (12.9%) patients had DSAs; post-transplant screening identified 186 (21.9%) DSA-positive patients. Post-transplant DSA monitoring improved the prediction of allograft loss when added to a model that included traditional determinants of allograft loss (increase in c statistic from 0.67; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.62 to 0.73 to 0.72; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.77). Addition of DSA IgG3 positivity or C1q binding capacity increased discrimination performance of the traditional model at transplant and post-transplant. Compared with DSA mean fluorescence intensity, DSA IgG3 positivity and C1q binding capacity adequately reclassified patients at lower or higher risk for allograft loss at transplant (category-free net reclassification index, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.67; P<0.001 and 0.93; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.36; P<0.001, respectively) and post-transplant (category-free net reclassification index, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.62; P<0.001 and 0.95; 95% CI, 0.62 to 1.28; P<0.001, respectively). Thus, pre- and post-transplant DSA monitoring and characterization may improve individual risk stratification for kidney allograft loss.

Vancomycin-Associated Cast Nephropathy.

Vancomycin is a widely prescribed antibiotic, but the exact nature of vancomycin-associated nephrotoxicity is unclear, in particular when considering the frequent coadministration of aminoglycosides. We describe here the initial case of a 56-year-old woman with normal renal function developing unexplained ARF without hypovolemia after administration of vancomycin without coadministration of aminoglycosides. Studying the patient's renal biopsy specimen, we ascertained that obstructive tubular casts composed of noncrystal nanospheric vancomycin aggregates entangled with uromodulin explained the vancomycin-associated ARF. We developed in parallel a new immunohistologic staining technique to detect vancomycin in renal tissue and confirmed retrospectively that deleterious vancomycin-associated casts existed in eight additional patients with acute tubular necrosis in the absence of hypovolemia. Concomitant high vancomycin trough plasma levels had been observed in each patient. We also reproduced experimentally the toxic and obstructive nature of vancomycin-associated cast nephropathy in mice, which we detected using different in vivo imaging techniques. In conclusion, the interaction of uromodulin with nanospheric vancomycin aggregates represents a new mode of tubular cast formation, revealing the hitherto unsuspected mechanism of vancomycin-associated renal injury.

Circulating donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies are a major factor in premature and accelerated allograft fibrosis.

Addressing the causes of kidney allograft-accelerated aging is an important challenge for improving long-term transplant outcomes. Here we investigated the role of circulating donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (HLA-DSAs) in the development and the progression of kidney allograft fibrosis with inclusion of traditional risk factors for allograft fibrosis. We prospectively enrolled 1539 consecutive kidney recipients transplanted in two centers and assessed interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA) in biopsies performed at one year post-transplantation. The HLA-DSAs and all traditional determinants of IF/TA were recorded at transplantation and within the first year post-transplantation, including histological diagnoses in 2260 "for cause" biopsies. This identified 498 (32%) patients with severe IF/TA (Banff IF/TA grade 2 or more). HLA-DSAs were significantly associated with severe IF/TA (adjusted odds ratio, 1.53; 95% confidence interval 1.16-2.01) after including 37 determinants. HLA-DSAs remained significantly associated with severe IF/TA in patients without antibody-mediated rejection (adjusted odds ratio 1.54; 1.11-2.14). HLA-DSAs were the primary contributor, being involved in 11% of cases, while T cell-mediated rejection, calcineurin-inhibitor toxicity, acute tubular necrosis, pyelonephritis, and BK virus-associated nephropathy were involved in 9%, 8%, 6%, 5%, and 4% of cases, respectively. One hundred fifty-four patients with HLA-DSA-associated severe IF/TA showed significantly increased microvascular inflammation, transplant glomerulopathy, C4d deposition in capillaries, and decreased allograft survival compared to 344 patients with severe IF/TA without HLA-DSAs. Three hundred seventy-eight patients with post-transplant HLA-DSAs exhibited significantly accelerated progression of IF/TA compared to 1161 patients without HLA-DSAs in the biopsies performed at one year post-transplant and beyond. Thus, circulating HLA-DSAs are major determinants of premature and accelerated allograft fibrosis acting independently of traditional risk factors and antibody-mediated rejection.

New insights in antibody-mediated rejection.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In the present review, we aim to describe the state of knowledge concerning antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) spectrum and diagnosis criteria before analyzing the present and future promising leads regarding ABMR prognosis markers and treatment. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent studies regarding complement-binding donor-specific antibodies and the molecular approach highlighted the unmet need for stratification tools for prognosis and treatment inside ABMR disease. SUMMARY: ABMR is the leading cause of kidney allograft failure. The recent expansion of its spectrum is related to the paradigm of a continuous process, leading insidiously to a chronic form of ABMR and to the progressive acknowledgement of new entities (such as vascular ABMR, subclinical ABMR, C4d-negative ABMR). Considering the global picture of ABMR, the Banff classification gradually refined the diagnosis criteria so that it now describes a clinically relevant and coherent entity. Nevertheless, if the diagnosis mainly relies on conventional assessment, such as histological findings and circulating donor-specific antibodies, these criteria face serious limitations in terms of stratification of patients at risk of graft loss inside ABMR disease. Recently, new promising tools have emerged in order to identify long-term outcomes at the time of the diagnosis of rejection. In this regard, donor-specific antibodies' complement-fixing ability and the molecular approach contributed significantly. Currently, however, no clinically relevant surrogate marker of treatment efficiency is currently available.

Lactate and venoarterial carbon dioxide difference/arterial-venous oxygen difference ratio, but not central venous oxygen saturation, predict increase in oxygen consumption in fluid responders.

OBJECTIVES: During circulatory failure, the ultimate goal of treatments that increase cardiac output is to reduce tissue hypoxia. This can only occur if oxygen consumption depends on oxygen delivery. We compared the ability of central venous oxygen saturation and markers of anaerobic metabolism to predict whether a fluid-induced increase in oxygen delivery results in an increase in oxygen consumption. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: ICU. PATIENTS: Fifty-one patients with an acute circulatory failure (78% of septic origin). MEASUREMENTS: Before and after a volume expansion (500 mL of saline), we measured cardiac index, o2- and Co2-derived variables and lactate. MAIN RESULTS: Volume expansion increased cardiac index ≥ 15% in 49% of patients ("volume-responders"). Oxygen delivery significantly increased in these 25 patients (+32% ± 16%, p < 0.0001). An increase in oxygen consumption ≥ 15% concomitantly occurred in 56% of these 25 volume-responders (+38% ± 28%). Compared with the volume-responders in whom oxygen consumption did not increase, the volume-responders in whom oxygen consumption increased ≥ 15% were characterized by a higher lactate (2.3 ± 1.1 mmol/L vs. 5.5 ± 4.0 mmol/L, respectively) and a higher ratio of the veno-arterial carbon dioxide tension difference (P(v - a)Co2) over the arteriovenous oxygen content difference (C(a - v)o2). A fluid-induced increase in oxygen consumption greater than or equal to 15% was not predicted by baseline central venous oxygen saturation but by high baseline lactate and (P(v - a)Co2/C(a - v)o2 ratio (areas under the receiving operating characteristics curves: 0.68 ± 0.11, 0.94 ± 0.05, and 0.91 ± 0.06). In volume-nonresponders, volume expansion did not significantly change cardiac index, but the oxygen delivery decreased due to a hemodilution-induced decrease in hematocrit. CONCLUSIONS: In volume-responders, unlike markers of anaerobic metabolism, central venous oxygen saturation did not allow the prediction of whether a fluid-induced increase in oxygen delivery would result in an increase in oxygen consumption. This suggests that along with indicators of volume-responsiveness, the indicators of anaerobic metabolism should be considered instead of central venous oxygen saturation for starting hemodynamic resuscitation.

A specific molecular signature in SARS-CoV-2-infected kidney biopsies.

Acute kidney injury is one of the most important complications in patients with COVID-19 and is considered a negative prognostic factor with respect to patient survival. The occurrence of direct infection of the kidney by SARS-CoV-2, and its contribution to the renal deterioration process, remain controversial issues. By studying 32 renal biopsies from patients with COVID-19, we verified that the major pathological feature of COVID-19 is acute tubular injury (ATI). Using single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization, we showed that SARS-CoV-2 infected living renal cells and that infection, which paralleled renal angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 expression levels, was associated with increased death. Mechanistically, a transcriptomic analysis uncovered specific molecular signatures in SARS-CoV-2-infected kidneys as compared with healthy kidneys and non-COVID-19 ATI kidneys. On the other hand, we demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 and hantavirus, 2 RNA viruses, activated different genetic networks despite triggering the same pathological lesions. Finally, we identified X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis-associated factor 1 as a critical target of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect living renal cells and identified specific druggable molecular targets that can potentially aid in the design of novel therapeutic strategies to preserve renal function in patients with COVID-19.

Stromal osseous metaplasia in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder: a rare case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: The bone formation within bladder tumors could be encountered in 3 conditions. These might consist of malignant bone formation in mesenchymal tumors; mixed mesenchymal and epithelial tumors; and epithelial tumors with stromal osseous metaplasia (SOM). This last is relatively rare. According to the English literature, only 12 cases have been reported in primary tumor and 7 in metastatic deposits of bladder primaries. Herein, we presented an additional case. CASE PRESENTATION: An 83-year-old man was admitted 13 years ago for prostatic adenocarcinoma, treated with radical prostatectomy. Biochemical recurrence was detected 2 years after surgery (prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) level: 4.60 ng/mL) and progressively normalized (<1.0 ng/mL) after adjuvant radiotherapy and annual injection of leuprorelin (enantoneR). He was referred after 8 years for hematuria, PSA level having slightly increased (0.60 ng/ml). Cystoscopy showed a nodular growth in the bladder wall, visualized as a calcified tumor on computed tomography (CT) and removed with transurethral resection. Histologically, the tumor consists of a non-muscle-invasive high grade papillary urothelial carcinoma with metaplastic bone within the stroma. Immunohistochemical analysis particularly demonstrated positive expression of respectively CD56 on osteoblasts, and CD68 on osteoclasts. MDM2 and CDK4 were negatives on osteoid and bone tissue. Six courses of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) therapy have been administered. Two local recidives have occurred during an 8-month follow-up period after immunotherapy and were treated with six further courses of BCG therapy. At one-month follow-up, the patient was well without remaining symptoms. CONCLUSION: SOM is a rare benign condition whose pathogenesis remains uncompletely defined. Sarcomatoïd carcinoma represents the main differential diagnosis that influences therapeutic procedures. Prognosis depends essentially on the extent of the carcinomatous component .

Renal Arterial Mycotic Aneurysm After Kidney Transplantation.

Mycotic aneurysm is a rare condition mostly attributable to Candida or Aspergillus species. About 20 cases of Candida-related arteritis have been reported in kidney transplant patients. Herein, we report the case of a 40-year-old man who received a kidney from a deceased donor in whom an accidental digestive wound was made during organ retrieval. He presented with sudden anuria 47 days after renal transplantation, revealing a large mycotic aneurysm of the kidney graft renal artery. Organs derived from donors in whom a digestive breach is noticed should be used with caution.

End-tidal carbon dioxide is better than arterial pressure for predicting volume responsiveness by the passive leg raising test.

PURPOSE: In stable ventilatory and metabolic conditions, changes in end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO(2)) might reflect changes in cardiac index (CI). We tested whether EtCO(2) detects changes in CI induced by volume expansion and whether changes in EtCO(2) during passive leg raising (PLR) predict fluid responsiveness. We compared EtCO(2) and arterial pulse pressure for this purpose. METHODS: We included 65 patients [Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II = 57 ± 19, 37 males, under mechanical ventilation without spontaneous breathing, 15 % with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, baseline CI = 2.9 ± 1.1 L/min/m(2)] in whom a fluid challenge was decided due to circulatory failure and who were monitored by an expiratory-CO(2) sensor and a PiCCO2 device. In all patients, we measured arterial pressure, EtCO(2), and CI before and after a fluid challenge. In 40 patients, PLR was performed before fluid administration. The PLR-induced changes in arterial pressure, EtCO(2), and CI were recorded. RESULTS: Considering the whole population, the fluid-induced changes in EtCO(2) and CI were correlated (r (2) = 0.45, p = 0.0001). Considering the 40 patients in whom PLR was performed, volume expansion increased CI ≥ 15 % in 21 "volume responders." A PLR-induced increase in EtCO(2) ≥ 5 % predicted a fluid-induced increase in CI ≥ 15 % with sensitivity of 71 % (95 % confidence interval: 48-89 %) and specificity of 100 (82-100) %. The prediction ability of the PLR-induced changes in CI was not different. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the PLR-induced changes in pulse pressure was not significantly different from 0.5. CONCLUSION: The changes in EtCO(2) induced by a PLR test predicted fluid responsiveness with reliability, while the changes in arterial pulse pressure did not.