Slavcev Antonij, Brozova Jitka, Slatinska Janka, Sekerkova Zuzana, Honsova Eva, Skibova Jelena, Striz Ilja, Viklicky Ondrej
Department of Immunogenetics, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Videnska 1958/9, 140 21, Prague, Czech Republic.
Clinic of Nephrology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Videnska 1958/9, 140 21, Prague, Czech Republic.
Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). 2016 Dec;64(Suppl 1):47-53. doi: 10.1007/s00005-016-0428-4. Epub 2017 Jan 12.
The B-cell activating factor (BAFF) cytokine has important functions for the survival and maturation of B lymphocytes, which implies that this cytokine might play a role in the development of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) after kidney transplantation. In our study, we compared the concentrations of the soluble BAFF cytokine in kidney graft recipients with AMR and patients without rejection with the goal of testing the hypothesis whether BAFF level measurement might be useful as a diagnostic marker of AMR. The study included a cohort of 19 high-risk patients with diagnosed AMR and 17 control patients free of rejection. BAFF was measured in all patients before transplantation, during the rejection episodes, and three months after transplantation in patients free of rejection using the Luminex technique. Before transplantation, the serum concentrations of BAFF in patients with AMR and kidney recipients without rejection did not significantly differ. After transplantation, however, BAFF levels were significantly lower in patients with AMR and also in patients with concurrent humoral and cellular rejection compared with patients without rejection (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). No correlation was found between BAFF and the production of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) before and after transplantation. Patients experiencing AMR and simultaneous cellular and AMR had significantly lower concentrations of BAFF in comparison with patients free of rejection.
B细胞活化因子（BAFF）细胞因子对B淋巴细胞的存活和成熟具有重要作用，这表明该细胞因子可能在肾移植后抗体介导的排斥反应（AMR）的发生中起作用。在我们的研究中，我们比较了发生AMR的肾移植受者和未发生排斥反应的患者体内可溶性BAFF细胞因子的浓度，目的是检验BAFF水平检测是否可能作为AMR诊断标志物的假设。该研究纳入了19例诊断为AMR的高危患者队列和17例无排斥反应的对照患者。使用Luminex技术在所有患者移植前、排斥反应发作期间以及未发生排斥反应的患者移植后三个月测量BAFF。移植前，发生AMR的患者和未发生排斥反应的肾移植受者的血清BAFF浓度无显著差异。然而，移植后，发生AMR的患者以及同时发生体液和细胞排斥反应的患者的BAFF水平与未发生排斥反应的患者相比显著降低（分别为p < 0.05和p < 0.01）。移植前后均未发现BAFF与供体特异性抗体（DSA）产生之间存在相关性。与未发生排斥反应的患者相比，发生AMR以及同时发生细胞和AMR的患者的BAFF浓度显著更低。
