April 5 - Recent Transplant News

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: A menace to our most vulnerable patients
Source: Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
The emergence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) highlights the importance of effective antibiotics to maintain the safety of our healthcare system. Clinicians will encounter CRE as a cause of difficult-to-treat and often fatal infections in hospitalized patients. This review examines the mechanisms of carbapenem resistance, the dissemination and clinical impact of these resistant organisms and challenges to their detection, treatment and control. Read more.

HCV coinfection not predictive of kidney disease in liver transplant recipients with HIV
Source: Healio
Liver transplant recipients with HIV and hepatitis C were not at increased risk for chronic kidney disease compared with those with HIV alone, but coinfection may be linked to more advanced disease, according to recent results. Researchers evaluated data from 81 patients coinfected with HCV and HIV and 35 with HIV who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation between 2003 and 2010. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence before transplantation and one and three years after was determined in each group, with a median follow-up of 3.6 years. Read more.

Organogenesis for kidney regeneration
Source: Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation (subscription required)
The kidney has an elaborate and complicated structure comprising several cell types. Damage or destruction of the kidney thus necessitates reconstruction of all the component cell types to regenerate a functional three-dimensional renal structure. Therefore, despite all the recent advances in the understanding of and technical approaches to stem cell and developmental biology, the anatomical complexity of the renal system makes de novo kidney regeneration the most difficult challenge for organ regenerative therapy. Read more.

Local access to subspecialty care influences the chance of receiving a liver transplant
Source: Liver Transplantation (subscription required)
Prior studies have examined the impact of demographic factors on liver transplant outcomes. These factors may be surrogate markers for access to medical care. A recent study investigated physician density in referred patients' hospital service areas (HSAs) as a factor in patients' probability of receiving a liver transplant. Researchers recently performed a retrospective review of patients referred for liver transplantation from 2002-2010. Read more.

Anti-CD2 producing pig xenografts effect localized depletion of human T cells in a huSCID model
Source: Xenotransplantation (subscription required)
Researchers investigated whether graft produced anti-human CD2, mediated by adenovirus (Adv) transduction of pig neonatal islet cell clusters (pNICC), would protect xenografts in a humanized mouse model from immune attack and whether such immunosuppression would remain local. A mouse anti-human CD2 Ab (CD2hb11) previously generated by us was genetically engineered to produce chimeric and humanized versions. Read more.

Pretransplant cancers might be overlooked
Source: Renal & Urology News
Many cancers found after kidney transplantation might have been present prior to surgery and possibly could have been detected during the pretransplant workup, according to results from a new study. In a group of 3,524 kidney transplant recipients in Quebec, 36 neoplasias were detected within a year of surgery. Of these, 16 (44 percent) may have been present before transplantation and could have been detected during the routine pretransplant workup. Read more.

Distinct microRNA profiles are associated with the severity of hepatitis C virus recurrence and acute cellular rejection after liver transplantation
Source: Liver Transplantation (subscription required)
Recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with accelerated fibrosis rates after liver transplantation (LT) and is the leading cause of graft failure. Furthermore, distinguishing recurrent HCV from acute cellular rejection (ACR) can be problematic, and this can lead to inappropriate treatments and adverse outcomes. It has been hypothesized that intragraft microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles could distinguish the severity of recurrent HCV and differentiate recurrent HCV from ACR. Researchers have established meticulously matched post-LT patient cohorts in order to derive robust global miRNA expression profiles and minimize the impact of variables known to influence HCV recurrence. Read more.