The Frequency of Tissue-Resident Donor T and NK Cells in Peripheral Blood after Lung Transplantation is Modulated by Normothermic Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion
1Institute of Transplant Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, 2Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
Meeting: 2019 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: 254
Keywords: Lung preservation, Lung transplantation, Microchimerism, T cells
Session Information
Session Name: Concurrent Session: Biomarkers, Immune Monitoring and Outcomes II
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Date: Monday, June 3, 2019
Session Time: 2:30pm-4:00pm
Presentation Time: 2:54pm-3:06pm
Location: Room 306
*Purpose: The appearance of passenger donor lymphocytes in recipient blood after double lung transplantation has been described decades ago. However, neither their early kinetics, nor distribution of lymphocyte subsets and clinical relevance have been addressed in detail. Therefore, we investigated frequencies and phenotypes of donor T and NK cells within the first 24 hours and at 3 weeks after lung transplantation and correlated them to important clinical outcomes.
*Methods: Blood and perfusion solutions of 59 lung recipients (30 male, 29 female, median age 51) were analysed pre Tx, at T0, T24 and at three weeks (3wk) for NK and T cell subsets. In a subset of 20 patients with standard cold donor lung preservation and 9 preserved with portable ex vivo lung preservation (OCS Lung), donor T and NK cells were identified in blood by staining of donor HLA alleles (HLA-A1,A2,A11,A24) combined with lineage markers. Frequencies of donor lymphocytes were correlated to cold ischemic time (CIT), primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD).
*Results: In all lung recipients, the NK cell frequency was significantly increased at T0 and T24 (p=0.04), CD4 T cells decreased and CD8 T cells remained stable. No significant differences were seen between recipients of standard vs OCS preserved lungs. Donor NK cells comprised 18.8% at T0, 17.1% at T24 and 7.8% at 3 wk (p<0.001) of circulating NK cells. Frequencies were for donor CD8+ T cells 8.3%, 6.6% and 2.6%, and for CD4+ donor T cells 6.4%, 4.6% and 1.3% of the respective subset. At T0, significantly less donor NK cells were detected in recipients of OCS lungs (p<0.008), while T cells were reduced non-significantly. No correlation between donor NK or T cell frequencies was observed for CIT or PGD. In the limited number of patients at risk, a trend towards higher early donor T cell frequencies in recipients not developing CLAD at two years after Tx was observed (p=0.04).
*Conclusions: Donor T and NK cells are detectable in blood of all lung recipients during the first 3 weeks after Tx and did not correlate with CIT or PGD. Preservation with portable EVLP resulted in decreased NK cell frequencies which might be explained by their ex vivo mobilization. Furthermore, transient donor chimerism might have a protective effect against CLAD development.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Falk CS, Wiegmann B, Hitz A, Bellmas-Sanz R, Bläsing K, Ius F, Kühn C, Avsar M, Tudorache I, Kühne J, Wandrer F, Haverich A, Warnecke G. The Frequency of Tissue-Resident Donor T and NK Cells in Peripheral Blood after Lung Transplantation is Modulated by Normothermic Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2019; 19 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/the-frequency-of-tissue-resident-donor-t-and-nk-cells-in-peripheral-blood-after-lung-transplantation-is-modulated-by-normothermic-ex-vivo-lung-perfusion/. Accessed May 18, 2025.« Back to 2019 American Transplant Congress