Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, Nephrology and Urology Units, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Jena, Germany.
Front Immunol. 2022 Nov 14;13:1008294. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1008294. eCollection 2022.
Atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a severe thrombotic microangiopathy in which kidney involvement is common. aHUS can be due to either genetic or acquired abnormalities, with most abnormalities affecting the alternative complement pathway. Several genetic factors/alterations can drive the clinical presentation, therapeutic response, and risk of recurrence, especially recurrence following kidney transplantation. We report here the case of a 22-year-old man who developed a severe form of aHUS. Renal biopsy revealed thrombotic microangiopathy and features of chronic renal damage. Despite two eculizumab infusions, the patient remained dialysis dependent. Two novel rare variants, c.109G>A (p.E37K) and c.159 C>A (p.Y53*), were identified in the factor H-related 2 () gene, and western blot analysis revealed a significant reduction in the level of FHR2 protein in the patient's serum. Although FHR2 involvement in complement 3 glomerulopathy has been reported previously, a role for FRH2 as a complement modulator has not yet been definitively shown. In addition, no cases of aHUS in individuals with variants have been reported. Given the role of FHRs in the complement system and the fact that this patient was a candidate for a kidney transplant, we studied the relevance of low FHR2 plasma levels through a set of functional assays. The aim of our work was to determine if low FHR2 plasma levels could influence complement control at the endothelial surface with a view to identifying a therapeutic approach tailored to this specific patient. Interestingly, we observed that low FHR2 levels in the patient's serum could induce complement activation, as well as C5b-9 deposition on human endothelial cells, and affected cell morphology. As C5b-9 deposition is a prerequisite for endothelial cell damage, these results suggest that extremely low FHR2 plasma levels increase the risk of aHUS. Given their ability to reduce C5b-9 deposition, recombinant FHR2 and eculizumab were tested and found to inhibit hemolysis and endothelial cell surface damage. Both molecules showed effective and comparable profiles. Based on these results, the patient underwent a kidney transplant, and received eculizumab as induction and maintenance therapy. Five years after transplantation, the patient remains in good general health, with stable graft function and no evidence of disease recurrence. To our knowledge, this is first reported case of an aHUS patient carrying mutations and provides an example of a translational therapeutic approach in kidney transplantation.
非典型溶血尿毒综合征(aHUS)是一种严重的血栓性微血管病,常累及肾脏。aHUS 可由遗传或获得性异常引起,大多数异常影响替代补体途径。一些遗传因素/改变可导致临床表现、治疗反应和复发风险的差异,尤其是肾移植后的复发。我们在此报告一例 22 岁男性患者,他患有严重的 aHUS。肾活检显示血栓性微血管病和慢性肾损伤特征。尽管接受了两次依库珠单抗输注,患者仍依赖透析。在因子 H 相关蛋白 2()基因中发现了两个新的罕见变异 c.109G>A(p.E37K)和 c.159 C>A(p.Y53*),Western blot 分析显示患者血清中 FHR2 蛋白水平显著降低。尽管先前已有报道 FHR2 参与补体 3 肾小球病,但 FRH2 作为补体调节剂的作用尚未得到明确证实。此外,尚未报道 变异个体中发生 aHUS 的病例。鉴于 FHR 在补体系统中的作用,以及该患者是肾移植候选者的事实,我们通过一系列功能测定研究了低 FHR2 血浆水平的相关性。我们的工作目的是确定低 FHR2 血浆水平是否会影响内皮表面的补体控制,以期为该特定患者确定一种量身定制的治疗方法。有趣的是,我们观察到患者血清中的低 FHR2 水平可诱导补体激活以及 C5b-9 在人内皮细胞上的沉积,并影响细胞形态。由于 C5b-9 沉积是内皮细胞损伤的先决条件,这些结果表明极低的 FHR2 血浆水平会增加 aHUS 的风险。鉴于它们降低 C5b-9 沉积的能力,我们测试了重组 FHR2 和依库珠单抗,并发现它们可抑制溶血和内皮细胞表面损伤。两种分子均显示出有效且相当的特性。基于这些结果,该患者接受了肾移植,并接受了依库珠单抗作为诱导和维持治疗。移植后 5 年,患者总体健康状况良好,移植物功能稳定,无疾病复发迹象。据我们所知,这是首例携带 突变的 aHUS 患者病例,并提供了肾移植中转化治疗方法的范例。
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