Clinical relevance of preformed IgG and IgM antibodies against donor endothelial progenitor cells in recipients of living donor kidney grafts. Issue 2 (16th December 2015) - Daniel, Volker
Abstract: Background: Literature reports suggest that non‐HLA‐antibodies against human endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) can be detected in pre‐transplant recipient serum and that EPC antibodies can have a deleterious influence on the graft. Methods: We investigated 71 renal transplant recipients from living donors for a possible influence of pre‐transplant donor‐specific IgG and/or IgM recipient antibodies against EPC of the donor using the flow cytometric XM‐ONE cross‐match. Results: Eight of the 71 patients developed acute biopsy‐proven rejection. Two of these patients showed IgM antibodies against EPC prior to transplantation while the other six patients had neither IgG nor IgM EPC antibodies. Conversely, pre‐transplant IgG or IgM antibodies against EPC were detected in 19 patients without acute rejection (3 × both IgG and IgM, 1 × IgG and 15 × IgM). The remaining 44 patients had neither EPC antibodies nor experienced rejection. Comparing serum creatinine levels at one month and one yr post‐transplant within and among the three patient groups revealed that serum creatinine levels were similar in patients with or without EPC antibodies (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In this series of 71 recipients with living donor kidneys, pre‐transplant EPC antibodies detected with the XM‐ONE test kit were neither associated with acute rejection nor with graft function at one month or one yr.