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Kidney Week

Abstract: TH-PO833

Clinical Outcomes of Antibody-Mediated Rejection with or without Anti-human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Donor-Specific Antibody

Session Information

Category: Transplantation

  • 2102 Transplantation: Clinical

Authors

  • Ko, Byounghwi, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
  • Jung, Minsun, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
  • Lee, Juhan, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
  • Yang, Jaeseok, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
Background

Antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is a major cause of late kidney allograft loss. It is increasingly recognized that histologic ABMRs without detectable donor-specific antibodies (DSA) can occur. Several studies have examined the prognosis of DSA-negative ABMR; however, there remains a need for further evidence.

Methods

From a single-center, retrospective study conducted from 2006 to 2021, 2,498 kidney transplant patients were screened, and 1,483 were available for at least one renal biopsy. Of these, 290 patients with biopsy-proven T-cell mediated rejection (TCMR) or ABMR were included in the study. The patients were categorized into TCMR, DSA-positive ABMR, and DSA-negative ABMR groups. DSAs were measured between the six months before and after the biopsies. The primary outcome was death-censored graft failure, and the secondary outcome was death-uncensored graft failure.

Results

The incidences for death-censored graft failure of TCMR, DSA-positive ABMR, and DSA-negative ABMR were 4.56, 4.98, and 6.23 per 100 patient-years. Over a median follow-up period of 5 years, death-censored graft failure occurred in 94 (32.4%) patients, with an incidence of 5.87 per 100 person-years. Compared with the TCMR group, the fully adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for death-censored graft failure were 1.28 (0.74-2.23) for the DSA-positive ABMR group and 1.67 (0.89-3.11) for the DSA-negative ABMR group. Furthermore, for death-uncensored graft failure, the DSA-negative group had a significantly higher risk compared with the TCMR group (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.06-3.32), whereas the risk did not differ between the DSA-negative and DSA-positive group.

Conclusion

DSA-negative ABMR showed a significantly higher risk for death-uncensored graft failure compared with TCMR, with a similar risk as DSA-positive ABMR. Validation study using a Korean nationwide kidney transplant cohort is ongoing together with exploration of specific causes of DSA-negative ABMR.