Peripheral blood immune response-related gene analysis for evaluating the potential risk of chronic antibody-mediated rejection.

This study aimed to elucidate the clinical relevance of immune-related gene expression in peripheral blood of kidney transplant recipients. The expression levels of fourteen key molecules (Foxp3, CTLA-4, CCR7, TGF-β, IGLL-1, IL-10, ITCH, CBLB, Bcl-6, CXCR5, granzyme B, CIITA, Baff, TOAG-1/TCAIM) related to regulatory/cytotoxic function of immune cells were compared in 93 patients, which were divided into Groups A (clinical cAMR with dn DSA, n=16), B (subclinical cAMR with dn DSA, n=17), C (negative cAMR with dn DSA, n=21) and D (stable function without dn DSA, n=39). CIITA mRNA expression levels in groups B and C were significantly lower than those in group D (p<0.01). Moreover, the CTLA-4 mRNA expression in group A was significantly higher than that in groups B and C (p<0.01). ROC curve analysis suggested that CIITA (AUC=0.902) and CTLA-4 (AUC=0.785) may serve as valuable biomarkers of the stage of dn DSA production and clinical cAMR, respectively. In addition to dn DSA screening, monitoring of CIITA and CTLA-4 in peripheral blood could offer useful information on the time course of the development of cAMR. PMID: 29614336 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Human Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Hum Immunol Source Type: research