The BENEFIT study demonstrated that 7 yrs after kidney transplantation (KT), mean eGFR, patient and graft survival, were significantly higher in the belatacept group than in the cyclosporine group. No data on morphological changes at long-term f-u for patients included in the study is available. This trial analyses graft histological changes 1 decade after KT in groups of patients who continue on belatacept (bela, n=23), cyclosporine (CsA, n=7) or were switched from bela to Tacrolimus (Tac, n=3) during the first months post-KT. Patients and Methods: Thirty-three adults, functionally stable KTR, accepted and signed an informed consent for graft biopsy (Bxs) performance. Bxs were blindly analyzed, and scored according to Banff 2013 by a nephropathologist. Results are depicted in Table 1; CsA and Tac patients were grouped as CNI; eGFR (MDRD4) is indicated.

Conclusions: Despite the limited number of patients, the findings show an overall significantly lower acute inflammation and scarring (IFTA) for KTR under bela compared to CNI. The higher preserved graft function observed in BENEFIT could be attributed to these findings.

CITATION INFORMATION: Mondragon-Ramirez G., Uribe-Uribe N., Arreola-Guerra J., Reyes-Acevedo R., Vilatoba M., Furuzawa-Carballeda J., Lopez-Toledo A., Mondragon-Salgado G., Alberu J. Tissue Talks: Graft´s Histological Findings 10 Years after Belatacept or CNI Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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