Organ Resilience Contributes to Different Impact of Delayed Graft Function (DGF) on Graft Survival in Kidneys Donated by Brain Death (DBD) and Circulatory Death Donors (DCD)
Transplantation Center, LUMC, Leiden, Netherlands
Meeting: 2019 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: 604
Keywords: Gene expression, Graft function, Ischemia, Kidney transplantation
Session Information
Session Name: Concurrent Session: Ischemia Reperfusion & Organ Rehabilition III
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Session Time: 4:30pm-6:00pm
Presentation Time: 5:18pm-5:30pm
Location: Room 313
*Purpose: Despite a tripled higher incidence of DGF in DCD kidney grafts compared to DBD kidney grafts, large studies show equivalent long-term graft survival with DBD and DCD grafts. This implies differential impacts of DGF on DCD and DBD graft survival. Possible explanations are more severe DGF in DBD grafts, and/or DCD grafts are more resilient than DBD grafts. The aim of this study was to assess the biological basis of differential impacts of DGF on long-term outcome of DBD and DCD grafts.
*Methods: The impact of DGF on long-term graft survival was analysed for 3744 DBD and 2891 DCD kidney transplants performed in The Netherlands between 2000 and 2018. The severity of DGF was estimated for 640 DBD and DCD kidneys transplanted at the LUMC by evaluating the number of posttransplant dialyses and postoperative functional recovery (eGFR). In parallel to findings in tumour biology, where p53, phospho-EGFR, IGF-1R, phospho-mTOR, phospho-MAPK14, PCNA, BCL2 and PPARγ are associated with tumour resilience, we determined expression of these factors by immunohistochemistry in pre-reperfusion kidney biopsies (DBD n=40; DCD n=40). Gene expression profiles (array analysis) followed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was performed to identify pathways differentially activated in 8 DBD and 7 DCD grafts.
*Results: Our data confirmed a higher incidence of DGF in DCD grafts (DCD 42% vs. DBD 18%). This higher incidence of DGF did not impact long-term graft survival. Multivariate analysis showed that this was mainly due to differential impact of DGF on long-term outcomes, with a major impact in DBD grafts (RR: 1.62, 95%CI: 1.24-2.11) but no significant impact in DCD grafts (RR: 1.29, 95%CI: 0.96-1.73). This was not caused by a more severe form of DGF in DBD grafts, a conclusion based on equal numbers of DGF-associated dialyses and superior posttransplant eGFRs in DBD grafts. Immunohistochemistry showed expression of all components of the resilience network in biopsies. Pathway analysis identified 24 differentially expressed pathways with the resilience associated pathways EGF-signalling (p:0.003), BRCA1 (p:0.005) and p38-MAPK-signalling (p:0.009) in the top-6.
*Conclusions: The absent impact of DGF on long-term graft survival in DCD kidneys is paralleled by activation of dedicated resilience pathways. Targeting of these pathways may provide a major opportunity to modulate organ resilience in kidney transplantation.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Kok MJde, Schaapherder AF, Wijermars LG, Vries DKde, Lindeman JL. Organ Resilience Contributes to Different Impact of Delayed Graft Function (DGF) on Graft Survival in Kidneys Donated by Brain Death (DBD) and Circulatory Death Donors (DCD) [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2019; 19 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/organ-resilience-contributes-to-different-impact-of-delayed-graft-function-dgf-on-graft-survival-in-kidneys-donated-by-brain-death-dbd-and-circulatory-death-donors-dcd/. Accessed May 13, 2025.« Back to 2019 American Transplant Congress