Pretransplant IgG reactivity to apoptotic cells correlates with late kidney allograft loss.

Preexisting serum antibodies have long been associated with graft loss in transplant recipients. While most studies have focused on HLA-specific antibodies, the contribution of non-HLA-reactive antibodies has been largely overlooked. We have recently characterized mAbs secreted by B cell clones derived from kidney allograft recipients with rejection that bind to apoptotic cells. Here, we assessed the presence of such antibodies in pretransplant serum from 300 kidney transplant recipients and examined their contribution to the graft outcomes. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with high pretransplant IgG reactivity to apoptotic cells had a significantly increased rate of late graft loss. The effect was only apparent after approximately 1 year posttransplant. Moreover, the association between pretransplant IgG reactivity to apoptotic cells and graft loss was still significant after excluding patients with high reactivity to HLA. This reactivity was almost exclusively mediated by IgG1 and IgG3 with complement fixing and activating properties. Overall, our findings support the view that IgG reactive to apoptotic cells contribute to presensitization. Taking these antibodies into consideration alongside anti-HLA antibodies during candidate evaluation would likely improve the transplant risk assessment.

Long-term results in recipients of combined HLA-mismatched kidney and bone marrow transplantation without maintenance immunosuppression.

We report here the long-term results of HLA-mismatched kidney transplantation without maintenance immunosuppression (IS) in 10 subjects following combined kidney and bone marrow transplantation. All subjects were treated with nonmyeloablative conditioning and an 8- to 14-month course of calcineurin inhibitor with or without rituximab. All 10 subjects developed transient chimerism, and in seven of these, IS was successfully discontinued for 4 or more years. Currently, four subjects remain IS free for periods of 4.5-11.4 years, while three required reinstitution of IS after 5-8 years due to recurrence of original disease or chronic antibody-mediated rejection. Of the 10 renal allografts, three failed due to thrombotic microangiopathy or rejection. When compared with 21 immunologically similar living donor kidney recipients treated with conventional IS, the long-term IS-free survivors developed significantly fewer posttransplant complications. Although most recipients treated with none or two doses of rituximab developed donor-specific antibody (DSA), no DSA was detected in recipients treated with four doses of rituximab. Although further revisions of the current conditioning regimen are planned in order to improve consistency of the results, this study shows that long-term stable kidney allograft survival without maintenance IS can be achieved following transient mixed chimerism induction.

Polyreactive antibodies developing amidst humoral rejection of human kidney grafts bind apoptotic cells and activate complement.

Antibody mediated rejection (AMR) is associated with a variety of graft-reactive antibodies following kidney transplant. To characterize these antibodies, we immortalized 107 B cell clones from a patient with AMR. In a previous study, we showed that six clones were reacting to multiple self-antigens as well as to HLA and MICA for two of them, thus displaying a pattern of polyreactivity. We show here that all six polyreactive clones also reacted to apoptotic but not viable cells. More generally we observed a nearly perfect overlap between polyreactivity and reactivity to apoptotic cells. Functionally, polyreactive antibodies can activate complement, resulting in the deposition of C3d and C4d at the surface of target cells. Testing the serum of 88 kidney transplant recipients revealed a significantly higher IgG reactivity to apoptotic cells in AMR patients than in patients with stable graft function. Moreover, total IgG purified from AMR patients had increased complement activating properties compared to IgG from non-AMR patients. Overall, our studies show the development of polyreactive antibodies cross-reactive to apoptotic cells during AMR. Further studies are now warranted to determine their contribution to the detection of C4d in graft biopsies as well as their role in the pathophysiology of AMR.

Expansion of polyreactive B cells cross-reactive to HLA and self in the blood of a patient with kidney graft rejection.

Antibody rejection is often accompanied by nondonor HLA specific antibodies (NDSA) and self-reactive antibodies that develop alongside donor-specific antibodies (DSA). To determine the source of these antibodies, we immortalized 107 B-cell clones from a kidney transplant recipient with humoral rejection. Two of these clones reacted to HLA class I or MICA. Both clones were also reactive to self-antigens and a lysate of a kidney cell line, hence revealing a pattern of polyreactivity. Monoclonality was verified by the identification of a single rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (VH) sequence for each clone. By tracking their unique CDR3 sequence, we found that one such polyreactive clone was highly expanded in the patient blood, representing ~0.2% of circulating B cells. The VH sequence of this clone showed evidence of somatic mutations that were consistent with its memory phenotype and its expansion. Lastly, the reactivity of the expanded polyreactive B-cell clone was found in the patient serum at time of rejection. In conclusion, we provide here proof of principle at the clonal level that human antibodies can cross-react to HLA and self. Our findings strongly suggest that polyreactive antibodies contribute to DSA, NDSA as well as autoantibodies, in transplant recipients.

B-cell immunity in the context of T-cell tolerance after combined kidney and bone marrow transplantation in humans.

Five patients with end-stage kidney disease received combined kidney and bone marrow transplants from HLA haploidentical donors following nonmyeloablative conditioning to induce renal allograft tolerance. Immunosuppressive therapy was successfully discontinued in four patients with subsequent follow-up of 3 to more than 6 years. This allograft acceptance was accompanied by specific T-cell unresponsiveness to donor antigens. However, two of these four patients showed evidence of de novo antibodies reactive to donor antigens between 1 and 2 years posttransplant. These humoral responses were characterized by the presence of donor HLA-specific antibodies in the serum with or without the deposition of the complement molecule C4d in the graft. Immunofluorescence staining, ELISA assays and antibody profiling using protein microarrays demonstrated the co-development of auto- and alloantibodies in these two patients. These responses were preceded by elevated serum BAFF levels and coincided with B-cell reconstitution as revealed by a high frequency of transitional B cells in the periphery. To date, these B cell responses have not been associated with evidence of humoral rejection and their clinical significance is still unclear. Overall, our findings showed the development of B-cell allo- and autoimmunity in patients with T-cell tolerance to the donor graft.

Clinical outcomes of late rather than early full-donor chimerism in patients with advanced lymphomas receiving nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic SCT.

Allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) can ideally provide long-term remission in advanced lymphoma patients by capturing a graft-vs-tumor (GVT) effect. On the basis of a murine model, we attempted to optimize a GVT effect through nonmyeloablative therapy and HLA-matched related donor HSCT with intentional induction of mixed chimerism followed by prophylactic donor lymphocyte infusion. A total of 26 advanced lymphoma patients were separated into an early and late full-donor chimerism (FDC) group using a median of 45 days post-HSCT as the defining point for FDC. Upon generating these groups, analysis by Student's t-test demonstrated that they were statistically distinct in time to develop FDC (P<0.01). There was a trend toward improved CR rates in the late group relative to the early group (62 vs 31%; P=0.12). A trend toward improved progression-free survival at 5 years was also observed in the late compared to the early group by Kaplan-Meier analysis (38 vs 8%; P=0.081). However, this did not correlate to a significant overall survival benefit. In conclusion, these data support the observation from our mouse models that the most potent GVT effect occurs in mixed chimeras with late chimerism conversion.

Managing the highly sensitized transplant recipient and B cell tolerance.

The detection of anti-donor-HLA antibodies in a renal allograft recipient's serum, either at the time of or after transplantation, is usually associated with specific antibody-mediated clinical syndromes. These can be divided temporally into three categories: hyperacute rejection, acute humoral rejection and chronic humoral rejection. With the identification of new immunosuppressive drug combinations, more-effective control of alloantibody production has been recently achieved in humans. Thus, prevention and/or treatment of antibody-mediated allograft injury are now possible. Ultimately, the induction of mixed hematopoietic chimerism may allow us to overcome the problem of allosensitization and accept an allograft without chronic immunosuppression.

Histocompatibility testing for highly sensitized transplant candidates.

HLA antibodies can develop for many different reasons and are often present in the serum of patients awaiting renal transplantation. These antibodies can limit the patient's ability to find a compatible donor and are a risk factor for poor graft outcome. Detection of HLA antibodies is important for identifying compatible donors, assessing the pretransplantation risk for rejection, and diagnosing humoral rejection posttransplantation. The results of antibody screens are also useful when interpreting crossmatch results. Assays used for detecting panel-reactive and donor-specific HLA antibodies, including cytotoxicity, flow cytometry, and solid phase assays, are described in this review.

Putative antibody-mediated rejection with C4d deposition in HLA-identical, ABO-compatible renal allografts.

We sought evidence for non-MHC antibody-mediated rejection in renal allografts by a systematic study of rejected HLA-identical sibling renal allografts. Among 162 recipients of HLA-identical, ABO-compatible sibling donor kidneys transplanted at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1964 to 2005, we identified 15 grafts that were lost from rejection and two additional grafts with reversible acute rejection, which provided 30 samples for study. All samples were stained for C4d by immunofluorescence in frozen tissue (n = 7) or by immunohistochemistry in paraffin embedded tissues (n = 10). We found that two of 17 grafts had positive C4d staining of peritubular capillaries. Histology revealed acute antibody-mediated rejection in one and acute cellular rejection type 1 in the other. Both grafts were matched at HLA-A, B, and C loci and had a nonreactive mixed lymphocyte response. Genotyping and serological analysis were not available. Compared with a published series, C4d+ irreversible rejection was more common in HLA nonidentical than HLA-identical grafts (75% vs 6.7%, respectively, P < .002). We conclude that antibody-mediated rejection, presumably due to non-MHC antigens other than ABO-blood groups does occur, but infrequently. This may account for some of the HLA antibody negative cases that develop antibody-mediated rejection.

Graft-versus-tumor induction with donor leukocyte infusions as primary therapy for patients with malignancies.

PURPOSE: Histocompatible allogeneic donor leukocyte infusions (DLIs) were administered as primary cancer therapy in a phase I trial to determine (1) whether mixed chimerism could be detected without a prior allogeneic transplantation, (2) the toxicity of primary DLI, and (3) whether a graft-versus-tumor (GVT) reaction could be observed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients were studied. Patients received interferon alfa-2b for a minimum of 4 weeks, followed by DLI (level 1). Patients with no toxicity or engraftment were eligible to receive cytarabine or cyclophosphamide followed by another course of DLI (level 2). Engraftment was determined using polymerase chain reaction amplification of donor and host-specific DNA polymorphisms. RESULTS: Donor cells were detected in the blood in 14 of 16 assessable patients within 1 hour of DLI. Chimerism detectable 4 weeks after DLI was observed in four patients, and five patients were not assessable. Prior autologous transplantation was associated with late chimerism (P =.0014). Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) occurred in four of 16 assessable patients (grade 1, two patients; grade 2, one patient; grade 4, one patient). One patient with grade 4 acute GVHD developed pancytopenia. Only the four patients treated after prior autologous transplantation developed acute GVHD (P =.0005). Three of four patients with acute GVHD and late chimerism responded to primary DLI, and one patient was not assessable for response. CONCLUSION: Allogeneic adoptive immunotherapy resulted in sustained chimerism, acute GVHD, and a GVT response in heavily pretreated patients. This indicates that it may be possible to generate a direct GVT response for patients with malignancies without the need for intensive conditioning therapy immediately before DLI. Immunosuppression may be required for sustained donor cell engraftment.

Alloantibody and xenoantibody cross-reactivity in transplantation.

The recent availability of pigs homozygous for alpha1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knockout, and improved immunosuppressive regimens that prevent an elicited antibody response, are expected to contribute to significantly increased survival of pig organs transplanted into primates, bringing clinical trials of xenotransplantation closer. Patients highly sensitized to human leukocyte antigens, who may be precluded from obtaining a human donor organ, would be one group that might benefit from xenotransplantation. However, there have been few studies on whether there is cross-reactivity of anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies with pig antigens. What data there are suggest that such cross-reactivity exists and that this may be detrimental to the outcome after transplantation of a pig organ. Neither is it known whether sensitization after a pig xenograft would preclude subsequent allotransplantation, although the data available suggest that this will not be the case. Further investigation on allo- and xenoantibody cross-reactivity is required.

Propagation of lymphocytes infiltrating human liver allografts. Correlation with histologic diagnosis of rejection.

In this study, we have investigated whether lymphocyte growth from 196 liver transplant biopsies is correlated with the histologic diagnosis of graft rejection. One fragment of each biopsy was cultured in IL-2 to expand activated T cells, and the remainder of the biopsy was analyzed histologically. A significantly higher number of biopsies with rejection grew lymphocytes when compared to those biopsies showing no evidence of rejection (P = 0.009). Lower growth rates were observed with biopsies taken from patients on OKT3 therapy (12% vs. 29% from patients not on OKT3), so when the data were reanalyzed after omitting those biopsies we observed an even stronger correlation of growth with rejection (P = 0.001). In spite of the fact that hepatitis biopsies are also infiltrated by lymphoid cells, the frequency of lymphocyte growth (16%) was similar to that observed for the biopsies with no rejection or hepatitis (19%) and much lower than for biopsies with rejection (42%). Over all, 82% of the cultures tested were positive for donor PLT reactivity, suggesting that current culture conditions favor alloreactive lymphocyte proliferation. The size of the biopsy cultured was found to be an important factor in the propagation of biopsy-infiltrating lymphocytes. Only 25% of smaller (less than 3 mm long) biopsies with rejection grew lymphocytes compared to 91% of the large-sized biopsies (greater than 5 mm long). It is likely that culture techniques will need to be modified in order to successfully propagate infiltrating lymphocytes that recognize antigens other than alloantigens.

Accelerated acute rejection of an apparent A2 renal allograft in an O recipient: report of a case with flow cytometric analysis.

We report a case of accelerated acute rejection of a renal allograft from a presumed ABO histo-blood group A2 donor in an O recipient, in which all of the published criteria for compatibility had been met. Flow cytometric analysis of the A and H antigen expression on the kidney donor's erythrocytes suggested that this donor did not have an A2 phenotype, but rather another subgroup of A. Some of the reported cases of accelerated acute rejection of A2 renal allografts in O recipients may have resulted from misapplication of the results of standard lectin agglutination to the transplant setting. The current case suggests that a more sophisticated method of ABO phenotyping, such as erythrocyte flow cytometric analysis, may be necessary in the transplant setting.

Control of antidonor antibody production with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil in renal allograft recipients with chronic rejection.

BACKGROUND: In renal transplantation, chronic rejection is a major cause of late allograft loss. Recent studies indicate that a subset of chronic rejection is associated with anti-HLA donor specific antibodies (DSA) and complement C4d deposition in peritubular capillaries (PTC). Since rescue therapy with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil has been found to limit antidonor B-cell responses in recipients with acute humoral rejection, we sought to determine whether a similar immunosuppressive regimen might be effective in patients with 'chronic humoral rejection'. METHODS: Four renal allograft recipients with 'chronic humoral rejection' were prospectively identified. The diagnosis was based on: (1) progressive rise in serum creatinine over 12 months; (2) typical pathologic features by light microscopy (transplant arteriopathy and glomerulopathy); (3) widespread C4d deposits in PTC by immunofluorescence; (4) detection of 'de novo' DSA at the time of biopsy. Maintenance immunosuppression was CsA, prednisone and azathioprine (n=3) or prednisone and azathioprine (n=1). Rescue therapy with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil was initiated in all patients, 12 hr after cyclosporine and azathioprine discontinuation. RESULTS: At diagnosis, the mean serum creatinine was 3.9 mg/dl (range: 3.3 to 5.4 mg/dl). DSA was an IgG directed against HLA class II (n=3) or class I (n=2), that is one patient had both anti-HLA class I and class II antibodies. Pretreatment antibody titers varied between 1:8 and 1:128. Rescue therapy was associated with a rapid and sustained decrease in antibody titers. In two patients, DSA became undetectable after 9 months and a repeat biopsy performed after 12 months revealed a decrease in C4d deposition in PTC. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a decrease in DSA production can be induced in renal allograft recipients with 'chronic humoral rejection' by using an immunosuppressive regimen that combines tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil. Limitation of antidonor antibody synthesis may be important for the treatment or the prevention of chronic rejection in organ transplantation.

Acute humoral rejection in renal allograft recipients: I. Incidence, serology and clinical characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Acute rejection (AR) associated with de novo production of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) is a clinicopathological entity that carries a poor prognosis (acute humoral rejection, AHR). The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of AHR in renal allograft recipients, and to further analyze the antibodies involved. METHODS: During a 4-year period, 232 renal transplants (Tx) were performed at our institution. Assays for DSA included T and B cell cytotoxic and/or flow cytometric cross-matches and cytotoxic antibody screens (PRA). C4d complement staining was performed on frozen biopsy tissue. RESULTS: A total of 81 patients (35%) suffered at least one episode of AR within the first 3 months: 51 had steroid-insensitive AR whereas the remaining 30 had steroid-sensitive AR. No DSA were found in patients with steroid-sensitive AR. In contrast, circulating DSA were found in 19/51 patients (37%) with steroid-insensitive AR, and widespread C4d deposits in peritubular capillaries were present in 18 of these 19 (95%). In at least three cases, antibodies were against donor HLA class II antigens. DSA were not found in the remaining 32 patients but C4d staining was positive in 2 of 32. The DSA/C4d positive (n=18) and DSA/C4d negative (n=30) groups differed in pre-Tx PRA levels, percentage of re-Tx patients, refractoriness to antilymphocyte therapy, and outcome. Plasmapheresis and tacrolimus-mycophenolate mofetil rescue reversed rejection in 9 of 10 recipients with refractory AHR. CONCLUSION: More than one-third of the patients with steroid-insensitive AR had evidence of AHR, often resistant to antilymphocyte therapy. Most cases (95%) with DSA at the time of rejection had widespread C4d deposits in peritubular capillaries, suggesting a pathogenic role of the circulating alloantibody. Combined DSA testing and C4d staining provides a useful approach for the early diagnosis of AHR, a condition that often necessitates a more intensive therapeutic rescue regimen.

Propagation and characterization of lymphocytes infiltrating livers of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis.

Lymphocytes were propagated with interleukin 2 from liver tissue removed at transplantation from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis or autoimmune chronic active hepatitis. Phenotypic analysis of the cultured lymphocytes as well as the infiltrating cells in situ indicated that the culture technique did not select for a particular phenotype. Eight cultures were tested for cell-mediated lympholysis activity against a bile duct tumor line as well as a hepatocellular carcinoma line, but no specific killing was seen. In addition, no natural killer activity was detected. However, the lymphocyte cultures were able to kill the targets in a lectin-dependent cytotoxicity assay, indicating their cytolytic effector activity. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that lymphocytes extracted from hepatic tissue and hilar lymph nodes from a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis proliferated in response to autologous biliary epithelial cells. These methods might be useful in studying the pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis and other liver diseases with autoimmune features.

Severe systemic sclerosis with anti-topoisomerase I antibodies is associated with an HLA-DRw11 allele.

SSc is an autoimmune connective tissue disease in which strong HLA associations have not been described. Anti-topo I antibodies are recognized, in general, in SSc patients with diffuse cutaneous involvement, whereas anti-ACAs are found in individuals with limited cutaneous involvement. We studied 95 Caucasian SSc patients, 44 with anti-topo I antibodies and 51 with neither anti-topo I nor ACA, for HLA-DR associations by using DNA typing techniques. We analyzed 181 normal Caucasian individuals in the same fashion. A significant association was observed in the anti-topo-I-positive patients with DRw11 (p = 1.7 x 10(-6), RR 4.2). The distribution of DRw11 alleles in these patients was significantly different from that observed in controls and could be accounted for by an increase in the frequency of the DRB1*1104 allele (p = 1.2 x 10(-9), RR 9.5). The DRw11 alleles were also associated with SSc with more tendon friction rubs (p = 0.006), which is a marker of more severe disease. In addition, a strong association was observed with anti-topo I antibodies and a particular sequence (aa 71-77) of the DQB1 chain (p = 0.02, RR 2.2). HLA associations in the case of SSc patients with anti-topo I antibodies are complex and involve at least two genes: HLA-DRw11, which appears to play a major role in determining the severity of the disease, and a DQ sequence, which associates with the development of the anti-topo I antibodies.

Combined liver-kidney transplantation and the effect of preformed lymphocytotoxic antibodies.

Thirty-eight sequentially placed liver and kidney allografts were evaluated with respect to patient and graft survival, and the influence of preformed lymphocytotoxic antibodies was analysed. The results suggest that the survival rate of combined liver and kidney transplantation is similar to the survival rate of liver transplantation alone. Sequentially placed kidney allografts may be protected from hyperacute rejection in the presence of donor specific lymphocytotoxic antibodies, but not in all instances. Both patient and kidney allograft survival was lower in positive crossmatch patients (33% and 17% respectively) than in negative crossmatch patients (78% and 75%). High levels of panel reactive antibodies (> 10%) also appeared to have a deleterious effect on survival, although the majority of the patients who failed also had a positive crossmatch. Although performed lymphocytotoxic antibodies are not an absolute contraindication to combined liver-kidney transplantation, they do appear to have a deleterious effect on long-term graft survival. However, more correlation with clinical parameters is needed.

Utilizing list exchange and nondirected donation through 'chain' paired kidney donations.

In a list exchange (LE), the intended recipient in an incompatible pair receives priority on the deceased donor waitlist (DD-waitlist) after the paired incompatible donor donates a kidney to a DD-waitlist candidate. A nondirected donor's (ND-D) kidney is usually transplanted directly to a DD-waitlist candidate. These two established practices would help even more transplant candidates if they were integrated with kidney paired donation (KPD). We consider a scenario in which the donor of an LE intended recipient (LE-IR) donates to a compatible KPD intended recipient (KPD-IR), and the KPD donor (KPD-D) donates to the waitlist (an LE-chain). We consider a similar scenario in which an ND-D donates to a KPD-IR and the KPD-D donates to the DD-waitlist (an ND-chain). Using data derived from the New England Program for Kidney Exchange (NEPKE) and from OPTN/SRTR recipient-donor distributions, simulations are presented to evaluate the potential impact of chain exchanges coordinated with KPD. LE donors (LE-D) and ND-D who are ABO-O result in the highest number of additional transplants, while results for ABO-A and B donors are similar to each other. We recommend that both LE and ND donations be utilized through chain exchanges.