Gene Pattern May Identify Kidney Transplant Recipients Who Don't Need Life-Long Anti-Rejection Drugs
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Researchers have identified a distinct pattern of gene expression in the largest reported group of kidney transplant recipients who have not rejected the transplant kidneys even though they stopped taking anti-rejection drugs.
This finding may help identify other transplant recipients who could safely reduce or end use of immunosuppressive therapy. In 2008, more than 80,000 people in the United States were living with a kidney transplant.
The findings come from the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), an international research consortium supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
The research team included three lead investigators, Kenneth Newell, M.D., Ph.D., of Emory University in Atlanta; Laurence Turka, M.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston; and Vicki Seyfert-Margolis, Ph.D., the former Chief Scientific Officer of ITN and currently at the Food and Drug Administration. Their report appears online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"The immunosuppressive therapy regimens that organ transplant recipients must endure have toxic side effects and increase the recipients' vulnerability to infections and cancer," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "This study holds promise for identifying kidney transplant recipients who might be able to minimize or withdraw from their use of anti-rejection drugs. However, large, prospective studies will be necessary to determine if the same biomarkers identified in the current study are reliable predictors of immune tolerance."
Following a kidney transplant, recipients must be placed on immunosuppressive therapy or their immune systems will reject the transplanted organ. However, these drugs suppress the entire immune system, reducing an individual's ability to fight infections, and sometimes leading to diseases related to a weakened immune system, such as cancer. The drugs also have other severe side effects such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, as well as swelling, weight gain, and excessive hair growth and acne that many people find intolerable.
In rare cases, a physician may stop a transplant recipient's immunosuppressive drugs because of a serious medical problem such as cancer or life-threatening infection. In other cases, transplant recipients decide to reduce or stop immunosuppressive therapy against their physicians' advice, even though by doing so, they risk losing their transplanted organ. However, in a very small percentage of such cases, rejection does not occur after the drugs are stopped.
This finding may help identify other transplant recipients who could safely reduce or end use of immunosuppressive therapy. In 2008, more than 80,000 people in the United States were living with a kidney transplant.
The findings come from the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), an international research consortium supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
The research team included three lead investigators, Kenneth Newell, M.D., Ph.D., of Emory University in Atlanta; Laurence Turka, M.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston; and Vicki Seyfert-Margolis, Ph.D., the former Chief Scientific Officer of ITN and currently at the Food and Drug Administration. Their report appears online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"The immunosuppressive therapy regimens that organ transplant recipients must endure have toxic side effects and increase the recipients' vulnerability to infections and cancer," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "This study holds promise for identifying kidney transplant recipients who might be able to minimize or withdraw from their use of anti-rejection drugs. However, large, prospective studies will be necessary to determine if the same biomarkers identified in the current study are reliable predictors of immune tolerance."
Following a kidney transplant, recipients must be placed on immunosuppressive therapy or their immune systems will reject the transplanted organ. However, these drugs suppress the entire immune system, reducing an individual's ability to fight infections, and sometimes leading to diseases related to a weakened immune system, such as cancer. The drugs also have other severe side effects such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, as well as swelling, weight gain, and excessive hair growth and acne that many people find intolerable.
In rare cases, a physician may stop a transplant recipient's immunosuppressive drugs because of a serious medical problem such as cancer or life-threatening infection. In other cases, transplant recipients decide to reduce or stop immunosuppressive therapy against their physicians' advice, even though by doing so, they risk losing their transplanted organ. However, in a very small percentage of such cases, rejection does not occur after the drugs are stopped.
