Immune traits may identify lucky kidney-transplant recipients
Tests find a genetic signature that may delineate people who could drop immune-suppression therapy
By Nathan Seppa
Certain immune-system characteristics may explain why some kidney-transplant recipients can stop taking immune-suppressing drugs without rejecting their new organs, two new studies show.
Doctors might someday use these biological traits — specifically a genetic “signature” found in these unusual patients — to discern which kidney recipients might be able to get off these harsh drugs. But that day hasn’t arrived yet, the scientists caution.
The two reports, published online May 24, will appear in the June 1 Journal of Clinical Investigation. A third report in the same issue identifies other genetic signatures that may be useful for identifying those kidney recipients most likely to undergo transplant failure. The findings might help doctors determine optimal treatment, says study coauthor Philip Halloran, a nephrologist at the University of Alberta in Canada.
More than half of kidney transplants from deceased donors fail within 10 years, requiring the recipient to go on dialysis or get another transplant, says Peter Heeger, a nephrologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. The loss can stem from rejection, a return of the original kidney disease, the effect of suppression drugs or other factors. The new studies suggest the possibility of using genetics and other biomarkers to predict transplant failure or success, Heeger says. “The goal for these molecular tests will now be to refine them and make them useful in the clinic.”