Comparison of T Regulatory (Treg) Cell Function Pre- and Post-Lung Transplantation Shows a Major Negative Impact of Immunosuppression on Treg Function
1Path & Lab Med, CHOP & UPenn, Philadelphia
2Pulm, Allergy & Crit Care Med, UPenn, Philadelphia
3Med, Microbiol & Immunol, Indiana Uni Sch of Med & Thoracic Transplant Prog, Indianapolis
4Medicine, Columbia Uni, New York.
Meeting: 2015 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: 119
Keywords: Graft survival, Immunosuppression, Lymphocytes, Tolerance
Session Information
Session Name: Concurrent Session: Lung: Optimizing Outcomes
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Date: Sunday, May 3, 2015
Session Time: 4:00pm-5:30pm
Presentation Time: 4:12pm-4:24pm
Location: Room 115-C
Aim: Clinical lung Tx recipients do not have sustained long-term survival outcomes comparable to that of other recipients of solid organ allografts, despite generally comparable immunosuppression. As a first step towards analyzing potential contributory factors, we undertook the laborious but key task of actually assessing, for the first time, the effects of immunosuppressive therapy on Treg function of lung allograft recipients compared to their pre-Tx activity.
Methods: We compared Treg suppressive function, number and viability in patients listed for lung Tx with corresponding results obtained at 3 months post-Tx.
Results: Of the 77 patients enrolled in our study (mean age 57.2±1.2 years, 52% males), 18 patients received lung allografts. Induction therapy consisted of CD52 mAb (78.6%) or CD25 mAb (21.4%), and therapy at 3 months post-Tx included prednisone (93.3%), CNI (87%), MMF (80%) and azathioprine (7%). Patients receiving allografts during the follow-up period had no significant differences with patients who did not, in terms of demographic and clinical parameters analyzed, including primary lung diagnoses. However, compared to pre-Tx samples (50.7±3.8 units), Tregs from post-Tx patients demonstrated significantly impaired Treg suppressive function (24.1±4.4 units, p=0.0002, T-test), determined by area-under-curve analysis using healthy CD4+ responder T cells. Moreover, post-Tx Tregs demonstrated decreased viability (12.5±1.6% of dead Tregs in pre-Tx vs. 30.2±6.3% post-Tx, p=0.0003, T-test). At 3 months post-Tx, 43% of patients had leukopenia, and all had lymphopenia, but relative Treg numbers, calculated as % of Treg isolated from CD4+ cells, did not change (4.4±0.3% pre-Tx vs. 6.1±1.4% post-Tx).
Conclusion: Current conventional immunosuppressive therapy has a significant detrimental effect on Treg suppressive function and viability, which may have the important effect of preventing the achievement of long-term host hyporesponsiveness to a lung allograft. Inhibitory effects on Treg function may also contribute to acute rejection and various co-morbidities post-lung Tx. Our ongoing studies are directed at furthering such understanding in lung Tx recipients.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Akimova T, Diamond J, Wilkes D, Lederer D, Christie J, Hancock W. Comparison of T Regulatory (Treg) Cell Function Pre- and Post-Lung Transplantation Shows a Major Negative Impact of Immunosuppression on Treg Function [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2015; 15 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/comparison-of-t-regulatory-treg-cell-function-pre-and-post-lung-transplantation-shows-a-major-negative-impact-of-immunosuppression-on-treg-function/. Accessed October 15, 2024.« Back to 2015 American Transplant Congress