Nationwide Implementation of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Is Associated With Decreased Incidence of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of nationwide nonpharmaceutical interventions against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the incidence of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) in kidney transplant recipients. The monthly incidence of PCP during the COVID-19 period decreased significantly compared to that of the pre-COVID-19 period in kidney transplant recipients.

The association of tumor necrosis factor superfamily 13 with recurrence of immunoglobulin A nephropathy in living related kidney transplantation.

BACKGROUND: An increasing amount of evidence has demonstrated an association between an increase in the level of tumor necrosis factor superfamily 13 (TNFSF13) and immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) progression. We aimed to evaluate if the level of pre-transplant serum TNFSF13 is predictive of IgAN recurrence after kidney transplantation. METHODS: This analysis was based on the clinical and laboratory data of 69 patients with IgAN who underwent first kidney transplantation with no evidence of mesangial IgA deposits in zero-time transplantation biopsy. We measured pre-transplant serum TNFSF13, total IgA, and galactose-deficient IgA1 levels. RESULTS: The recurrence rate of IgAN over a median follow-up duration of 5.1 years was 15.9% (11/69 patients), with a mean time to the first recurrence of 1.7 years. The high pre-transplant TNFSF13 level was associated with IgAN recurrence after kidney transplantation among patients who received a graft from a living related donor. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights association of TNFSF13 levels in recurrent IgAN patients who undergo living related donor transplantation. Further research is needed to clarify mechanisms by which TNFSF13 affects the recurrence of IgA nephropathy.

Impact of perioperative renal dysfunction in heart transplantation: combined heart and kidney transplantation could help to reduce postoperative mortality.

BACKGROUND: Renal dysfunction is a frequent problem in heart failure patients. We aimed to investigate the predictors of mortality after heart transplantation and the impact of perioperative renal dysfunction on short-term and long-term prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed the outcomes of patients undergoing isolated heart transplantation (IHT, n=62) and combined heart-kidney transplantation (CHKT, n=5) between October 2007 and May 2012. Among all patients, 55.2% had preoperative renal dysfunction. RESULTS: Compared with the IHT group, the CHKT group had a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (p=0.001), and higher proportion of diabetes (p=0.008), hypertension (p=0.010), renal failure (p=0.036), and greater incidence of preoperative continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) (p=0.025). Despite unfavorable baseline conditions in the CHKT group, there was no postoperative mortality. Early 30-day postoperative mortality only occurred in the IHT group (5 patients, 8.1%). In multivariate analysis, persistent renal dysfunction (HR 29.356, p<0.001), donor heart ischemic time (HR 1.014, p=0.005), and duration of mechanical ventilation (HR 1.012, p=0.026) were significant predictors of overall mortality. The patients with persistent renal dysfunction at 1 month after transplantation showed significantly lower survival rates compared to the patients with complete renal recovery (10% vs. 93% at 1 year, p<0.001). In the long-term follow-up of patients who had preoperative renal dysfunction, IHT showed only 64% survival, whereas CHKT showed 100%. CONCLUSIONS: Renal dysfunction was a common manifestation in heart transplantation recipients. Persistent renal dysfunction after transplantation was the most powerful independent predictor of overall mortality. CHKT could help to reduce postoperative mortality in end-stage heart failure patients with renal dysfunction.

MHC expression in a human adult stem cell line and its down-regulation by hCMV US gene transfection.

Due to their unique capacity to self-renew and for multiple differentiation, stem cells are considered promising candidates for cell replacement therapy in many devastating diseases. However, studies on immune rejection, which is a major problem facing successful stem cell therapy, are rare. In this study, we examined MHC expression in the M13SV1 cell line, which has previously been shown to have stem cell properties and to be non-tumorigenic, in order to determine whether human adult stem cells might be rejected after transplantation. Our results show low expression levels of MHC class I molecules on the surface of these cells. An induction of MHC class I expression was observed when the cells were treated with IFN-gamma. Maximal induction of MHC class protein expression was observed at 48 h after treatment with concentrations above 5 ng/ml of IFN-gamma. Elevated MHC class I levels were sustained for 72 h after withdrawing IFN-gamma. Therefore, we introduced human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) US genes, which are known to be able to reduce MHC class I expression on the cell surface after infection, into M13SV1 cells. Cells transfected with the hCMV US2, US3, US6 or US11 genes exhibited a reduction (40-60%) of MHC class I expression compared with mock-transfected cells. These results suggest that human adult stem cells are capable of expressing high levels of MHC class I proteins, and thus may be rejected on transplantation unless they are modified. In addition, viral stealth mechanisms can be exploited for stem cell transplantation.