Review
Microbiology
Victoria G. Hall, Atul Humar, Deepali Kumar
Summary: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a significant complication after solid organ transplantation (SOT), and the current strategies for prevention and management are not optimal. To address this, various techniques to measure CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) have been developed and evaluated. These assays show promise for personalized CMV management but are not yet widely used in routine clinical practice.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Jackrapong Bruminhent, Suphanan Autto, Porpon Rotjanapan, Pintip Ngarmjanyaporn, Asalaysa Bushyakanist, Suppachok Kirdlarp, Pichaya O-charoen, Chavachol Setthaudom, Prapaporn Pisitkun
Summary: Patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and low CMV-specific T-cell responses could develop CMV infection after receiving immunosuppressants. There was no significant difference in the development of CsCMVI between QF-negative (QF-) and QF-positive (QF+) patients before immunosuppressive therapy, but one month post-treatment, QF- patients had a higher risk of developing CsCMVI. Further studies should focus on CMV-specific CMI among patients with autoimmune diseases.
OPEN FORUM INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Virology
Mario Fernandez-Ruiz, Natalia Redondo, Patricia Parra, Tamara Ruiz-Merlo, Isabel Rodriguez-Goncer, Natalia Polanco, Esther Gonzalez, Francisco Lopez-Medrano, Rafael San Juan, David Navarro, Amado Andres, Jose Maria Aguado
Summary: This study compares two methods (intracellular cytokine staining and interferon-gamma release assay) in predicting immune protection among kidney transplant recipients. The results suggest that intracellular cytokine staining performs slightly better in predicting immune protection at the time of discontinuation of prophylaxis.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Mario Fernandez-Ruiz, Estefani Garcia-Rios, Natalia Redondo, Isabel Rodriguez-Goncer, Tamara Ruiz-Merlo, Patricia Parra, Virginia Sandonis, Francisco Lopez-Medrano, Rafael San Juan, Esther Gonzalez, Natalia Polanco, Amado Andres, David Navarro, Jose Maria Aguado, Pilar Perez-Romero
Summary: This study investigates the impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific antibodies on infection in kidney transplant recipients. The results suggest that CMV-AbNEIs do not have a protective role in preventing CMV infection.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Urology & Nephrology
Roy D. Bloom, Joshua J. Augustine
Summary: Improving long-term kidney allograft survival is closely related to better outcomes at 12 months, with decreased acute rejection rates and more effective immunosuppression. Balancing under- and overimmunosuppression, as well as rejection versus immunosuppression toxicity, remains a challenge in transplantation. Clinicians rely on nonspecific, noninvasive tests and kidney allograft biopsies for evaluating immunosuppression burden.
CLINICAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEPHROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Hai Zhou, Hongcheng Lu, Li Sun, Zijie Wang, Ming Zheng, Zhou Hang, Dongliang Zhang, Ruoyun Tan, Min Gu
Summary: In this study, bioinformatic analysis was used to identify potential diagnostic markers of TCMR in kidney transplantation. Microarray data analysis and immune cell infiltration distribution analysis identified genes and immune cells associated with TCMR. Immunohistochemical staining and image analysis confirmed the overexpression of CXCR6 and CXCL13 in TCMR patients, suggesting their potential as diagnostic markers and targets for immunotherapy in TCMR.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
John M. Cronk, Karolina H. Dziewulska, Patryk Puchalski, Rowena B. Crittenden, Marie-Louise Hammarskjod, Michael G. Brown
Summary: This study discovered that the Ly49R activation receptor is selectively triggered during MCMV infection on antiviral NK cells licensed by the Ly49G2 IR. The recognition of MCMV-infected targets by the Ly49R activating receptor depends on the expression of MHC I Dk and MCMV gp34.
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Jiorgos Kourelis
Summary: The functional connection between cell-surface receptors and intracellular NLR immune receptors is crucial for plant immunity. Pathogens have developed mechanisms to suppress cell-surface immune signaling, but plants have evolved NLRs to recognize and counteract these suppression mechanisms. Understanding these interconnected receptor networks could lead to innovative approaches for developing long-lasting disease resistance.
Review
Infectious Diseases
Oriol Manuel, Robin K. Avery
Summary: This review provides an overview of recent advancements in diagnostics, therapies, and prevention strategies for cytomegalovirus (CMV) in solid-organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Recent studies have shown the benefits of preemptive therapy over prophylaxis in reducing CMV disease incidence, while new drugs like maribavir are showing promise in treating resistant/refractory cases. The use of CMV cell-mediated immune assays is also showing promising results in delineating antiviral strategies.
CURRENT OPINION IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Review
Surgery
Oriol Bestard, Hannah Kaminski, Lionel Couzi, Mario Fernandez-Ruiz, Oriol Manuel
Summary: Utilizing assays that assess specific T-cell-mediated immunity against CMV can enhance personalized strategies in preventing and treating CMV in organ transplantation, by improving risk stratification and identifying low replication risk patients.
TRANSPLANT INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Lonneke H. Gaykema, Rianne Y. van Nieuwland, Ellen Lievers, Wessel B. J. Moerkerk, Juliette A. de Klerk, Sebastien J. Dumas, Jesper Kers, Arnaud Zaldumbide, Cathelijne W. van den Berg, Ton J. Rabelink
Summary: Genetically modifying HLA class I in kidney organoids prior to transplantation holds promise for protecting against immune rejection. However, knocking out B2M alone is insufficient to prevent T-cell-mediated immune rejection in iPSC-derived kidney organoids. Modulating HLA class II signaling will be necessary to prevent rejection following transplantation.
STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Immunology
Cecilia Righi, Giulia Franzoni, Francesco Feliziani, Clinton Jones, Stefano Petrini
Summary: Bovine Alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) is a significant respiratory pathogen in cattle worldwide, causing bovine respiratory disease. Immunosuppression initially occurs after infection but is followed by the development of innate and adaptive immune responses. Vaccines targeting both humoral and cell-mediated immunity have been developed. This review summarizes the current understanding of cell-mediated immune responses against BoHV-1 infection and vaccination.
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Akinori Higaki, Ahmad U. M. Mahmoud, Pierre Paradis, Ernesto L. Schiffrin
Summary: Hypertension is partially mediated by immune mechanisms, with IL-23 and IL-17 playing important roles. The IL-23/IL-17 axis has not been a major therapeutic target for hypertension treatment, but shows potential for targeting therapy.
CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Oriol Manuel, Mirjam Laager, Cedric Hirzel, Dionysios Neofytos, Laura N. Walti, Gideon Hoenger, Isabelle Binet, Aurelia Schnyder, Susanne Stampf, Michael Koller, Matteo Mombelli, Min Jeong Kim, Matthias Hoffmann, Katrin Koenig, Christoph Hess, Anne-Valerie Burgener, Pietro E. Cippa, Kerstin Huebel, Thomas F. Mueller, Daniel Sidler, Suzan Dahdal, Franziska Suter-Riniker, Jean Villard, Andrea Zbinden, Giuseppe Pantaleo, Nasser Semmo, Karine Hadaya, Natalia Enriquez, Pascal R. Meylan, Marc Froissart, Dela Golshayan, Thomas Fehr, Uyen Huynh-Do, Manuel Pascual, Christian van Delden, Hans H. Hirsch, Peter Jueni, Nicolas J. Mueller, Swiss Transplant Cohort Study STCS
Summary: This study examined the use of immune monitoring to individualize the duration of antiviral prophylaxis after transplantation. The results showed that immune monitoring led to a significant reduction in prophylaxis duration, but did not establish noninferiority in terms of the primary outcome of CMV infection.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Abhishek Shastri, Ahmad Al Aiyan, Uday Kishore, Maria Elena Farrugia
Summary: Dysfunction of the immune system can lead to peripheral nervous system damage. The immune mechanisms involve inflammation and proliferation of Schwann cells and result in demyelination and axonal degeneration. Animal models have contributed to understanding the pathophysiology of inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathies. Detection of specific antibodies aids in diagnosis. Paraneoplastic neuropathies are immune-mediated reactions to tumor cells. This review discusses the immunological and pathophysiological mechanisms, as well as the electrophysiological characteristics, laboratory features, and treatment options of dysimmune neuropathies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Betty Chamoun, Irina B. Torres, Alejandra Gabaldon, Joana Sellares, Manel Perello, Eva Castella, Xavier Guri, Maite Salcedo, Nestor G. Toapanta, Ignacio Cidraque, Francesc Moreso, Daniel Seron
Summary: The combination of tacrolimus and mycophenolate is commonly used in renal transplants. The study found that tacrolimus exposure was associated with inflammation in healthy kidney areas, but not in scarred tissue.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Maria Meneghini, Elena Crespo, Matthias Niemann, Alba Torija, Nuria Lloberas, Vincent Pernin, Pere Fontova, Edoardo Melilli, Alexandre Fava, Nuria Montero, Anna Manonelles, Josep Maria Cruzado, Eduard Palou, Jaume Martorell, Josep Maria Grinyo, Oriol Bestard
Summary: Molecular HLA mismatches between donors and recipients may impact the development of posttransplant T-cell alloimmunity and subsequent donor-specific cellular and humoral alloimmune activation. These immune responses are influenced by the degree of HLA molecular incompatibility between donors and recipients, as well as the pretransplant cellular immune status of the patients.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Letter
Surgery
Oriol Bestard, Thomas Jouve, Lluis Castells, Manuel Lopez, Marina Munoz, Elena Crespo, Nestor Toapanta, Juliana Esperalba, Isabel Campos-Varela, Teresa Pont, Oscar Len, Magda Campins, Francesc Moreso
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION
(2022)
Editorial Material
Urology & Nephrology
Marco Montomoli, Omar Taco Sanchez, Luis D'Marco, Jose Luis Gorriz Teruel
Editorial Material
Transplantation
Kate Stevens, Edoardo Melilli
NEPHROLOGY DIALYSIS TRANSPLANTATION
(2022)
Article
Surgery
Constantino Fernandez Rivera, Maria Calvo Rodriguez, Jose Luis Poveda, Julio Pascual, Marta Crespo, Gonzalo Gomez, Sheila Cabello Pelegrin, Javier Paul, Ricardo Lauzurica, Monica Perez Mir, Francesc Moreso, Manel Perello, Amado Andres, Esther Gonzalez, Ana Fernandez, Alicia Mendiluce, Beatriz Fernandez Carbajo, Ana Sanchez Fructuoso, Natividad Calvo, Alejandro Suarez, Gabriel Bernal Blanco, Antonio Osuna, M. Carmen Ruiz-Fuentes, Edoardo Melilli, Nuria Montero Perez, Ana Ramos, Beatriz Fernandez, Veronica Lopez, Domingo Hernandez
Summary: In a multicenter, prospective observational study, once-daily tacrolimus formulations were compared in de novo kidney transplant recipients. The LCPT group showed higher relative bioavailability than PR-Tac, with similar effectiveness in preventing rejection and comparable effects on renal function, safety, adherence, treatment failure, and discontinuation rates.
CLINICAL TRANSPLANTATION
(2022)
Editorial Material
Immunology
Francesc J. Moreso
TRANSPLANTATION PROCEEDINGS
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Cristina Dopazo, Itxarone Bilbao, Sonia Garcia, Concepcion Gomez-Gavara, Mireia Caralt, Isabel Campos-Varela, Lluis Castells, Ernest Hidalgo, Francisco Moreso, Bruno Montoro, Ramon Charco
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the association between intrapatient variability (IPV) of tacrolimus pharmacokinetics at 6 months after liver transplantation (LT) and patient outcomes. The results suggest that high IPV between the third and sixth months after LT is associated with poorer patient survival rates and impaired renal function.
CTS-CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Urology & Nephrology
Carlos Couceiro, Ines Rama, Jordi Comas, Nuria Montero, Anna Manonelles, Sergi Codina, Alexandre Fava, Edoardo Melilli, Ana Coloma, Maria Quero, Jaume Tort, Josep M. Cruzado
Summary: This study compared the effects of different dialysis techniques after kidney transplant failure on patient survival and second kidney transplant outcomes, with results indicating that peritoneal dialysis is superior to hemodialysis in reducing mortality in candidates for a second kidney transplant without options for preemptive retransplantation.
CLINICAL KIDNEY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Antonio Franco, Francesc Moreso, Eulalia Sola-Porta, Isabel Beneyto, Nuria Esforzado, Francisco Gonzalez-Roncero, Asuncion Sancho, Edoardo Melilli, Juan Carlos Ruiz, Cristina Galeano
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Pere Fontova, Lisanne N. van Merendonk, Anna Vidal-Alabro, Raul Rigo-Bonnin, Gema Cerezo, Stefaan van Oevelen, Oriol Bestard, Edoardo Melilli, Nuria Montero, Ana Coloma, Anna Manonelles, Joan Torras, Josep M. Cruzado, Josep M. Grinyo, Helena Colom, Nuria Lloberas
Summary: Despite monitoring whole blood tacrolimus concentrations, acute rejection can still occur during tacrolimus therapy after kidney transplantation. This study aimed to investigate the intracellular pharmacokinetics (PK) of two tacrolimus formulations (immediate-release and extended-release) and their correlation with whole blood PK and pharmacodynamics (PD).
Review
Pediatrics
Maria Meneghini, Anat Roitberg Tambur
Summary: Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for children with end-stage kidney failure, but it faces obstacles such as suboptimal outcomes and the need for long-term immunosuppression. Improving HLA matching and utilizing HLA-DQ compatibility between recipient and donor in organ allocation schemes specifically for pediatric patients can enhance graft and patient outcomes. This review discusses recent literature on HLA matching in pediatric kidney transplantation and explores new approaches utilizing molecular mismatch load analysis.
PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Arnau Monforte, Ibai Los-Arcos, Maria Teresa Martin-Gomez, David Campany-Herrero, Judith Sacanell, Cristina Berastegui, Ester Marquez-Algaba, Abiu Sempere, Xavier Nuvials, Maria Deu, Lluis Castells, Francesc Moreso, Carles Bravo, Joan Gavalda, Oscar Len
Summary: We describe 53 solid organ transplant recipients treated with isavuconazole for fungal infections. There is scarce data of its use in solid organ transplant recipients, where interactions with calcineurin inhibitors and mTOR and adverse drug events have limited the use of other triazoles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first article describing the safety regarding adverse events and drug interactions of isavuconazole for the treatment of fungal infections in a cohort of solid organ transplant recipients. Also, although this is a noncomparative study, we report some real world effectivity data of these patients, including treatment of non-Aspergillus fungal infections.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)