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This Guide for Living Donor Kidney Transplantation (LDKT) has been prepared with the sponsorship of the Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN), the Spanish Transplant Society (SET), and the Spanish National Transplant Organization (ONT). It updates evidence to offer the best chronic renal failure treatment when a potential living donor is available. The core aim of this Guide is to supply clinicians who evaluate living donors and transplant recipients with the best decision-making tools, to optimise their outcomes.Moreover, the role of living donors in the current KT context should recover the level of importance it had until recently. To this end the new forms of incompatible HLA and/or ABO donation, as well as the paired donation which is possible in several hospitals with experience in LDKT, offer additional ways to treat renal patients with an incompatible donor.Good results in terms of patient and graft survival have expanded the range of circumstances under which living renal donors are accepted. Older donors are now accepted, as are others with factors that affect the decision, such as a borderline clinical history or alterations, which when evaluated may lead to an additional number of transplantations.This Guide does not forget that LDKT may lead to risk for the donor. Pre-donation evaluation has to centre on the problems which may arise over the short or long-term, and these have to be described to the potential donor so that they are able take them into account. Experience over recent years has led to progress in risk analysis, to protect donors’ health. This aspect always has to be taken into account by LDKT programmes when evaluating potential donors.Finally, this Guide has been designed to aid decision-making, with recommendations and suggestions when uncertainties arise in pre-donation studies. Its overarching aim is to ensure that informed consent is based on high quality studies and information supplied to donors and recipients, offering the strongest possible guarantees. Resumen: Esta guía de recomendaciones para el TR de donante vivo (TRDV) es un documento elaborado con el patrocinio de la Sociedad Española de Nefrología, la Sociedad Española de Trasplantes y la Organización Nacional de Trasplantes que actualiza la calidad de la evidencia disponible para ofrecer el mejor tratamiento de la insuficiencia renal crónica cuando se disponga de un donante vivo potencial. El objetivo principal de esta guía es proporcionar a los profesionales con responsabilidad en los estudios previos del donante vivo y del receptor trasplantado, las mejores herramientas para tomar decisiones en beneficio del donante vivo y del receptor del trasplante.Además, en el contexto actual del TR, el donante vivo debe recuperar el protagonismo que alcanzó en un pasado reciente. Para ello, las nuevas modalidades de donación HLA y/o ABO incompatible, así como la donación cruzada disponibles en diversos centros con experiencia en TRDV, son oportunidades adicionales para el tratamiento de enfermos renales que tienen un donante incompatible.Los buenos resultados en supervivencia del paciente y del injerto están ampliando las circunstancias de aceptación de donantes vivos de riñón, incluyendo donantes de mayor edad y otros con algunos condicionantes que incluyen antecedentes o alteraciones límite que, cuando son evaluados con criterios objetivos, pueden aportar un numero adicional de trasplantes.No se ha obviado en esta guía que el TRDV puede representar algún riesgo para el que dona. Estos problemas que pueden aparecer a corto o largo plazo tienen que ser objeto principal de valoración previa a la donación y presentados al potencial donante para que en ejercicio de su autonomía los asuma o rechace. La experiencia acumulada en los últimos años ha permitido avanzar en el análisis de riesgos para preservar la salud de los donantes, aspecto que debe estar siempre presente en los responsables de programas de TRDV cuando se procede al estudio de idoneidad de un potencial donante.Finalmente, esta guía ha sido estructurada para facilitar la toma de decisiones con recomendaciones y sugerencias ante incertidumbres derivadas de los resultados en los exhaustivos estudios predonación. Y todo ello, con el objetivo de que el consentimiento informado que debe certificar la calidad de los estudios y la información proporcionada a donante y receptor, alcancen las mayores garantías posibles.

The aim of the present study was to determine humoral and T-cell responses after four doses of mRNA-1273 vaccine in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients, and to study predictors of immunogenicity, including the role of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunity. Secondarily, safety was also assessed. Liver, heart, and kidney transplant recipients eligible for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination from three different institutions in Barcelona, Spain were included. IgM/IgG antibodies and T cell ELISpot against the S protein four weeks after receiving four consecutive booster doses of the vaccine were analyzed. One hundred and forty-three SOT recipients were included (41% liver, 38% heart, and 21% kidney). The median time from transplantation to vaccination was 6.6 years (SD 7.4). In total, 93% of the patients developed SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG antibodies and 94% S-ELISpot positivity. In total, 97% of recipients developed either humoral or cellular response (100% of liver recipients, 95% of heart recipients, and 88% of kidney recipients). Hypogammaglobulinemia was associated with the absence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies and S-ELISpot reactivity after vaccination, whereas past symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies and S-ELISpot reactivity. Local and systemic side effects were generally mild or moderate, and no recipients experienced the development of de novo DSA or graft dysfunction following vaccination.

Resumen: Esta guía de recomendaciones para el TR de donante vivo (TRDV) es un documento elaborado con el patrocinio de la Sociedad Española de Nefrología, la Sociedad Española de Trasplantes y la Organización Nacional de Trasplantes que actualiza la calidad de la evidencia disponible para ofrecer el mejor tratamiento de la insuficiencia renal crónica cuando se disponga de un donante vivo potencial. El objetivo principal de esta guía es proporcionar a los profesionales con responsabilidad en los estudios previos del donante vivo y del receptor trasplantado, las mejores herramientas para tomar decisiones en beneficio del donante vivo y del receptor del trasplante.Además, en el contexto actual del TR, el donante vivo debe recuperar el protagonismo que alcanzó en un pasado reciente. Para ello, las nuevas modalidades de donación HLA y/o ABO incompatible, así como la donación cruzada disponibles en diversos centros con experiencia en TRDV, son oportunidades adicionales para el tratamiento de enfermos renales que tienen un donante incompatible.Los buenos resultados en supervivencia del paciente y del injerto están ampliando las circunstancias de aceptación de donantes vivos de riñón, incluyendo donantes de mayor edad y otros con algunos condicionantes que incluyen antecedentes o alteraciones límite que, cuando son evaluados con criterios objetivos, pueden aportar un numero adicional de trasplantes.No se ha obviado en esta guía que el TRDV puede representar algún riesgo para el que dona. Estos problemas que pueden aparecer a corto o largo plazo tienen que ser objeto principal de valoración previa a la donación y presentados al potencial donante para que en ejercicio de su autonomía los asuma o rechace. La experiencia acumulada en los últimos años ha permitido avanzar en el análisis de riesgos para preservar la salud de los donantes, aspecto que debe estar siempre presente en los responsables de programas de TRDV cuando se procede al estudio de idoneidad de un potencial donante.Finalmente, esta guía ha sido estructurada para facilitar la toma de decisiones con recomendaciones y sugerencias ante incertidumbres derivadas de los resultados en los exhaustivos estudios predonación. Y todo ello, con el objetivo de que el consentimiento informado que debe certificar la calidad de los estudios y la información proporcionada a donante y receptor, alcancen las mayores garantías posibles. Abstract: This guide for living donor renal transplantation (LDRT) has been prepared with the sponsorship of the Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN), the Spanish Transplant Society (SET), and the Spanish National Transplant Organization (ONT). It updates evidence to offer the best chronic renal failure treatment when a potential living donor is available. The core aim of this guide is to supply clinicians who evaluate living donors and transplant recipients with the best decision-making tools, to optimise their outcomes.Moreover, the role of living donors in the current RT context should recover the level of importance it had until recently. To this end the new forms of incompatible HLA and/or ABO donation, as well as the paired donation which is possible in several hospitals with experience in LDRT, offer additional ways to treat renal patients with an incompatible donor.Good results in terms of patient and graft survival have expanded the range of circumstances under which living renal donors are accepted. Older donors are now accepted, as are others with factors that affect the decision, such as a borderline clinical history or alterations, which when evaluated may lead to an additional number of transplantations.This guide does not forget that LDRT may lead to risk for the donor. Pre-donation evaluation has to centre on the problems which may arise over the short or long-term, and these have to be described to the potential donor so that they are able to take them into account. Experience over recent years has led to progress in risk analysis, to protect donors’ health. This aspect always has to be taken into account by LDRT programmes when evaluating potential donors.Finally, this guide has been designed to aid decision-making, with recommendations and suggestions when uncertainties arise in pre-donation studies. Its overarching aim is to ensure that informed consent is based on high quality studies and information supplied to donors and recipients, offering the strongest possible guarantees.

Background. In kidney transplant recipients, there is discordance between the development of cellular and humoral response after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. We sought to determine the interplay between the 2 arms of adaptive immunity in a 3-dose course of mRNA-1273 100 μg vaccine. Methods. Humoral (IgG/IgM) and cellular (N- and S-ELISpot) responses were studied in 117 kidney and 12 kidney-pancreas transplant recipients at the following time points: before the first dose, 14 d after the second dose‚ and before and after the third dose, with a median of 203 and 232 d after the start of the vaccination cycle, respectively. Results. After the second dose, 26.7% of naive cases experienced seroconversion. Before the third dose and in the absence of COVID-19, this percentage increased to 61.9%. After the third dose, seroconversion occurred in 80.0% of patients. Naive patients who had at any time point a detectable positivity for S-ELISpot were 75.2% of the population, whereas patients who maintained S-ELISpot positivity throughout the study were 34.3%. S-ELISpot positivity at 42 d was associated with final seroconversion (odds ratio‚ 3.14; 95% confidence interval‚ 1.10-8.96; P = 0.032). Final IgG titer was significantly higher in patients with constant S-ELISpot positivity (P

Complete and high-resolution (HR) HLA typing improves the accurate assessment of donor–recipient compatibility and pre-transplant donor-specific antibodies (DSA). However, the value of this information to identify de novo immune-mediated graft events and its impact on outcomes has not been assessed. In 241 donor/recipient kidney transplant pairs, DNA samples were re-evaluated for six-locus (A/B/C/DRB1/DQB1+A1/DPB1) HR HLA typing. De novo anti-HLA antibodies were assessed using solid-phase assays, and dnDSA were classified either (1) as per current clinical practice according to three-locus (A/B/DRB1) low-resolution (LR) typing, estimating donor HLA-C/DQ typing with frequency tables, or (2) according to complete six-locus HR typing. The impact on graft outcomes was compared between groups. According to LR HLA typing, 36 (15%) patients developed dnDSA (LR_dnDSA+). Twenty-nine out of 36 (80%) were confirmed to have dnDSA by HR typing (LR_dnDSA+/HR_dnDSA+), whereas 7 (20%) did not (LR_dnDSA+/HR_dnDSA−). Out of 49 LR_dnDSA specificities, 34 (69%) were confirmed by HR typing whereas 15 (31%) LR specificities were not confirmed. LR_dnDSA+/HR_dnDSA+ patients were at higher risk of ABMR as compared to dnDSA− and LR_dnDSA+/HR_dnDSA− (logRank < 0.001), and higher risk of death-censored graft loss (logRank = 0.001). Both LR_dnDSA+ (HR: 3.51, 95% CI = 1.25–9.85) and LR_dnDSA+/HR_dnDSA+ (HR: 4.09, 95% CI = 1.45–11.54), but not LR_dnDSA+/HR_dnDSA− independently predicted graft loss. The implementation of HR HLA typing improves the characterization of biologically relevant de novo anti-HLA DSA and discriminates patients with poorer graft outcomes.

Background: Despite recent advances in immunosuppression treatment, antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) remains the leading cause of kidney graft loss. Information about prognostic markers and the efficacy of treatment is scarce.Methods: Retrospective study with kidney recipients diagnosed an active ABMR from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2019 to explore the influence of persistent inflammation in follow-up biopsies on graft survival after ABMR treatment.Results: About 116 patients were included. Active ABMR were treated with a combination of plasma exchange (PE), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), rituximab, and steroids. At 6 months of treatment, 63 (54.3%) patients presented a stabilization or improvement in kidney-graft function. The effectiveness varied depending on the timepoint of the presentation between transplantation and rejection, which is lower for those with late ABMR (63 vs. 21% for early vs. late ABMR, respectively). Ninety patients (77%) underwent a control biopsy after ABMR treatment, from which 46 (51%) responded to the treatment. Microvascular inflammation (MVI) persisted in 64 (71%) biopsies, whereas tubulitis persisted in 17 (19%) biopsies. Death-censored graft survival at 1 year was significantly lower in patients with persistent MVI (86% vs. 95% without persistent MVI, P = 0.002), or with persistent tubulitis (44% vs. 66% without tubulitis, P = 0.02). In the Cox Regression analysis, the persistence of MVI [hazard ratio (HR), 4.50 (95%CI, 1.35–14.96), P = 0.01] and tubulitis [HR 2.88 95%CI (1.24–6.69), P = 0.01) in follow-up biopsies significantly increased the risk of graft failure.Conclusion: Persistent inflammation in follow-up biopsies after ABMR treatment was associated with an increased risk of graft loss, even without meeting Banff rejection criteria.Study Registration: Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS): 14566/RG 24161. Study code: UTRINM-2017-01.

Donor/recipient molecular human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatch predicts primary B-cell alloimmune activation, yet the impact on de novo donor-specific T-cell alloimmunity (dnDST) remains undetermined. The hypothesis of our study is that donor/recipient HLA mismatches assessed at the molecular level may also influence a higher susceptibility to the development of posttransplant primary T-cell alloimmunity. In this prospective observational study, 169 consecutive kidney transplant recipients without preformed donor-specific antibodies (DSA) and with high resolution donor/recipient HLA typing were evaluated for HLA molecular mismatch scores using different informatic algorithms [amino acid mismatch, eplet MM, and Predicted Indirectly Recognizable HLA Epitopes (PIRCHE-II)]. Primary donor-specific alloimmune activation over the first 2 years posttransplantation was assessed by means of both dnDSA and dnDST using single antigen bead (SAB) and IFN-γ ELISPOT assays, respectively. Also, the predominant alloantigen presenting pathway priming DST alloimmunity and the contribution of main alloreactive T-cell subsets were further characterized in vitro. Pretransplantation, 78/169 (46%) were DST+ whereas 91/169 (54%) DST−. At 2 years, 54/169 (32%) patients showed detectable DST responses: 23/54 (42%) dnDST and 31/54 (57%) persistently positive (persistDST+). 24/169 (14%) patients developed dnDSA. A strong correlation was observed between the three distinct molecular mismatch scores and they all accurately predicted dnDSA formation, in particular at the DQ locus. Likewise, HLA molecular incompatibility predicted the advent of dnDST, especially when assessed by PIRCHE-II score (OR 1.014 95% CI 1.001–1.03, p=0.04). While pretransplant DST predicted the development of posttransplant BPAR (OR 5.18, 95% CI=1.64–16.34, p=0.005) and particularly T cell mediated rejection (OR 5.33, 95% CI=1.45–19.66, p=0.012), patients developing dnDST were at significantly higher risk of subsequent dnDSA formation (HR 2.64, 95% CI=1.08–6.45, p=0.03). In vitro experiments showed that unlike preformed DST that is predominantly primed by CD8+ direct pathway T cells, posttransplant DST may also be activated by the indirect pathway of alloantigen presentation, and predominantly driven by CD4+ alloreactive T cells in an important proportion of patients. De novo donor-specific cellular alloreactivity seems to precede subsequent humoral alloimmune activation and is influenced by a poor donor/recipient HLA molecular matching.

Abstract Background Chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (c-aABMR) is an important cause of allograft failure and graft loss in long-term kidney transplants. Methods To determine the efficacy and safety of combined therapy with rituximab, plasma exchange (PE) and intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), a cohort of patients with transplant glomerulopathy (TG) that met criteria of active cABMR, according to BANFF’17 classification, was identified. Results We identified 62 patients with active c-aABMR and TG (cg ≥ 1). Twenty-three patients were treated with the combination therapy and, 39 patients did not receive treatment and were considered the control group. There were no significant differences in the graft survival between the two groups. The number of graft losses at 12 and 24 months and the decline of eGFR were not different and independent of the treatment. A decrease of eGFR≥13 ml/min between 6 months before and c-aABMR diagnosis, was an independent risk factor for graft loss at 24 months (OR = 5; P = 0.01). Infections that required hospitalization during the first year after c-aABMR diagnosis were significantly more frequent in treated patients (OR = 4.22; P = 0.013), with a ratio infection/patient-year of 0.65 and 0.20 respectively. Conclusions Treatment with rituximab, PE, and IVIG in kidney transplants with c-aABMR did not improve graft survival and was associated with a significant increase in severe infectious complications. Trial registration Agencia Española de Medicametos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS): 14566/RG 24161. Study code: UTR-INM-2017-01.

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses targeting specific HIV proteins, in particular Gag, have been associated with relative control of viral replication in vivo. However, Gag-specific CTL can also be detected in individuals who do not control the virus and it remains thus unclear how Gag-specific CTL may mediate the beneficial effects in some individuals but not in others. Here, we used a 10mer peptide set spanning HIV Gag-p24 to determine immunogen-specific T-cell responses and to assess functional properties including functional avidity and cross-reactivity in 25 HIV-1 controllers and 25 non-controllers without protective HLA class I alleles. Our data challenge the common belief that Gag-specific T cell responses dominate the virus-specific immunity exclusively in HIV-1 controllers as both groups mounted responses of comparable breadths and magnitudes against the p24 sequence. However, responses in controllers reacted to lower antigen concentrations and recognized more epitope variants than responses in non-controllers. These cross-sectional data, largely independent of particular HLA genetics and generated using direct ex-vivo samples thus identify T cell responses of high functional avidity and with broad variant reactivity as potential functional immune correlates of relative HIV control.