The number of FoxP3+ cells in transbronchial lung allograft biopsies does not predict bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome within the first five years after transplantation. (9th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krustrup, Dorrit; Iversen, Martin; Martinussen, Torben; Schultz, Hans Henrik L.; Andersen, Claus B.
• Is Part Of: Clinical transplantation. Volume 29:Number 3(2015)
• Page Start: 179
• Page End: 184
• Publication Date: 2015-03-09
• Subjects: Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc -- Periodicals; 617.95
• DOI: 10.1111/ctr.12502
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0902-0063

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ctr12502-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="ctr12502-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>An important limitation to the success of lung transplantation is the development of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). It has been hypothesized that regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) are related to the risk of BOS. We aim to evaluate whether the number of forkhead box P3 (FoxP3+) cells/mm<sup>2</sup> in lung allograft biopsies is a predictor of long‐term outcome.</p> </sec> <sec id="ctr12502-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Materials and Methods</title> <p>A total of 58 consecutive lung transplant patients were included in the study. For 233 routine surveillance biopsy samples, the numbers of FoxP3+ cells/mm<sup>2</sup> were assessed by immunohistochemical staining with antibodies against FoxP3. BOS scores were calculated for the first five yr after transplantation.</p> </sec> <sec id="ctr12502-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>We determined that acute rejection was related to the time elapsed from transplantation to BOS with hazard ratios of 3.18 (p = 0.02) and 3.73 (p = 0.04) when comparing the levels of acute rejection grade 1 and grade 2/3, respectively, to no rejection. According to a Cox regression analysis, the number of FoxP3+ cells/mm<sup>2</sup> was not predictive of time to BOS.</p> </sec> <sec id="ctr12502-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Discussion and Conclusions</title> <p>Our data indicate that the number of FoxP3+ cells in the lung allograft did not correlate with BOS‐free survival time. Previous studies have been contradictory and included different time points. Our findings emphasize the importance of including a time factor.</p> </sec> </abstract>