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Kotton CN, Kamar N, Wojciechowski D, Eder M, Hopfer H, Randhawa P, Sester M, Comoli P, Tedesco Silva H, Knoll G, Brennan DC, Trofe-Clark J, Pape L, Axelrod D, Kiberd B, Wong G, Hirsch HH. The Second International Consensus Guidelines on the Management of BK Polyomavirus in Kidney Transplantation. Transplantation 2024; 108:1834-1866. [PMID: 38605438 PMCID: PMC11335089 DOI: 10.1097/tp.0000000000004976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) remains a significant challenge after kidney transplantation. International experts reviewed current evidence and updated recommendations according to Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE). Risk factors for BKPyV-DNAemia and biopsy-proven BKPyV-nephropathy include recipient older age, male sex, donor BKPyV-viruria, BKPyV-seropositive donor/-seronegative recipient, tacrolimus, acute rejection, and higher steroid exposure. To facilitate early intervention with limited allograft damage, all kidney transplant recipients should be screened monthly for plasma BKPyV-DNAemia loads until month 9, then every 3 mo until 2 y posttransplant (3 y for children). In resource-limited settings, urine cytology screening at similar time points can exclude BKPyV-nephropathy, and testing for plasma BKPyV-DNAemia when decoy cells are detectable. For patients with BKPyV-DNAemia loads persisting >1000 copies/mL, or exceeding 10 000 copies/mL (or equivalent), or with biopsy-proven BKPyV-nephropathy, immunosuppression should be reduced according to predefined steps targeting antiproliferative drugs, calcineurin inhibitors, or both. In adults without graft dysfunction, kidney allograft biopsy is not required unless the immunological risk is high. For children with persisting BKPyV-DNAemia, allograft biopsy may be considered even without graft dysfunction. Allograft biopsies should be interpreted in the context of all clinical and laboratory findings, including plasma BKPyV-DNAemia. Immunohistochemistry is preferred for diagnosing biopsy-proven BKPyV-nephropathy. Routine screening using the proposed strategies is cost-effective, improves clinical outcomes and quality of life. Kidney retransplantation subsequent to BKPyV-nephropathy is feasible in otherwise eligible recipients if BKPyV-DNAemia is undetectable; routine graft nephrectomy is not recommended. Current studies do not support the usage of leflunomide, cidofovir, quinolones, or IVIGs. Patients considered for experimental treatments (antivirals, vaccines, neutralizing antibodies, and adoptive T cells) should be enrolled in clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille N. Kotton
- Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Nassim Kamar
- Department of Nephrology and Organ Transplantation, Toulouse Rangueil University Hospital, INSERM UMR 1291, Toulouse Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases (Infinity), University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - David Wojciechowski
- Department of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
| | - Michael Eder
- Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helmut Hopfer
- Division of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Parmjeet Randhawa
- Division of Transplantation Pathology, The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Martina Sester
- Department of Transplant and Infection Immunology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Patrizia Comoli
- Cell Factory and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, Department of Mother and Child Health, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
| | - Helio Tedesco Silva
- Division of Nephrology, Hospital do Rim, Fundação Oswaldo Ramos, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Greg Knoll
- Department of Medicine (Nephrology), University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | | | - Jennifer Trofe-Clark
- Renal-Electrolyte Hypertension Division, Associated Faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA
- Transplantation Division, Associated Faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA
| | - Lars Pape
- Pediatrics II, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - David Axelrod
- Kidney, Pancreas, and Living Donor Transplant Programs at University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
| | - Bryce Kiberd
- Division of Nephrology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Germaine Wong
- Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Centre for Kidney Research, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Centre for Transplant and Renal Research, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Hans H. Hirsch
- Division of Transplantation and Clinical Virology, Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Schoephoerster J, Jensen C, Jackson S, Plautz E, Balani S, Kouri A, Kizilbash SJ. BK DNAemia in pediatric kidney transplant recipients: Predictors and outcomes. Pediatr Transplant 2023; 27:e14372. [PMID: 35938684 DOI: 10.1111/petr.14372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pediatric data on risk factors and the clinical course of BK DNAemia are limited. We aimed to determine the effects of BK DNAemia on transplant outcomes and delineate the safety and efficacy of various treatment approaches. METHODS This retrospective-cohort study included 161 transplants (age ≤ 21 years) performed at a single center between 1/1/2012 and 1/1/2020. We used Cox proportional models to evaluate the effects of BK DNAemia on patient survival (PS), graft survival (GS), and acute rejection (AR), using BK as a time-dependent covariate. We also assessed the effects of pharmacological intervention on BK DNAemia duration using intervention as a time-dependent covariate. RESULTS BK-free survival was 69.1% at 1-year and 54.6% at 3-year posttransplant. After multivariate adjustment, BK DNAemia was associated with young age at transplant (aHR, age 5-<12 vs. ≥12 (years): 2.5 (1.4-4.5); p = .001) and steroid-based immunosuppression (IS) (aHR: 2.2 [1.1-4.5]; p = .03). We found no effect of DNAemia on AR (aHR: 1.25; p = .5), PS (aHR: 2.85; p = .22), and GS (aHR: 0.56; p = .41). Of 70 patients with DNAemia, 22 (31.4%) received no treatment, 20 (28.6%) received IS reduction alone, and 28 patients (40%) received treatment with at least one pharmacological agent (leflunomide, IVIG, ciprofloxacin, cidofovir). Sixty-three patients (90%) cleared DNAemia with median time to resolution of 2.4 months (IQR:1.4-5.6). We found no significant effect of BK-directed pharmacological treatment on time to resolution (aHR: 0.64;p = .13). BK-directed agents were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS BK DNAemia is associated with a young age at transplant and steroid-based maintenance IS. We found no effect of BK DNAemia on AR, GS, and PS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chelsey Jensen
- Solid Organ Transplant, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Scott Jackson
- Biostatistics, Solid Organ Transplant, University of Minnesota., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Emilee Plautz
- Research coordinator, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Shanthi Balani
- Pediatric Nephrology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Anne Kouri
- Pediatric Nephrology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Sarah J Kizilbash
- Pediatric Nephrology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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Ahlenstiel-Grunow T, Liu X, Schild R, Oh J, Taylan C, Weber LT, Staude H, Verboom M, Schröder C, Sabau R, Großhennig A, Pape L. Steering Transplant Immunosuppression by Measuring Virus-Specific T Cell Levels: The Randomized, Controlled IVIST Trial. J Am Soc Nephrol 2021; 32:502-516. [PMID: 33323473 PMCID: PMC8054884 DOI: 10.1681/asn.2020050645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pharmacokinetic monitoring is insufficient to estimate the intensity of immunosuppression after transplantation. Virus-specific T cells correlate with both virus-specific and general cellular immune defense. Additional steering of immunosuppressive therapy by virus-specific T cell levels might optimize dosing of immunosuppressants. METHODS In a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial, we randomized 64 pediatric kidney recipients to a control group with trough-level monitoring of immunosuppressants or to an intervention group with additional steering of immunosuppressive therapy by levels of virus-specific T cells (quantified by cytokine flow cytometry). Both groups received immunosuppression with cyclosporin A and everolimus in the same target range of trough levels. Primary end point was eGFR 2 years after transplantation. RESULTS In the primary analysis, we detected no difference in eGFR for the intervention and control groups 2 years after transplantation, although baseline eGFR 1 month after transplantation was lower in the intervention group versus the control group. Compared with controls, patients in the intervention group received significantly lower daily doses of everolimus and nonsignificantly lower doses of cyclosporin A, resulting in significantly lower trough levels of everolimus (3.5 versus 4.5 µg/L, P<0.001) and cyclosporin A (47.4 versus 64.1 µg/L, P<0.001). Only 20% of patients in the intervention group versus 47% in the control group received glucocorticoids 2 years after transplantation (P=0.04). The groups had similar numbers of donor-specific antibodies and serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Steering immunosuppressive therapy by virus-specific T cell levels in addition to pharmacokinetic monitoring seems safe, results in a similar eGFR, and personalizes immunosuppressive therapy by lowering exposure to immunosuppressive drugs, likely resulting in lower drug costs. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY NAME AND REGISTRATION NUMBER IVIST trial, https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/search?query=2009-012436-32 and ISRCTN89806912.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thurid Ahlenstiel-Grunow
- Department of Pediatric Kidney, Liver and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- Department of Pediatrics II, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Xiaofei Liu
- Institute of Biostatistics, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Raphael Schild
- Department of Pediatric Nephrology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jun Oh
- Department of Pediatric Nephrology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christina Taylan
- Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Children’s and Adolescents’ University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Lutz T. Weber
- Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Children’s and Adolescents’ University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Hagen Staude
- Department of Pediatric Nephrology, University Children’s Hospital, University Hospital of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Murielle Verboom
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Christoph Schröder
- Department of Pharmacovigilance, Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Ruxandra Sabau
- Department of Pharmacovigilance, Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Anika Großhennig
- Institute of Biostatistics, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Lars Pape
- Department of Pediatric Kidney, Liver and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- Department of Pediatrics II, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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Leuzinger K, Kaur A, Wilhelm M, Hirsch HH. Variations in BK Polyomavirus Immunodominant Large Tumor Antigen-Specific 9mer CD8 T-Cell Epitopes Predict Altered HLA-Presentation and Immune Failure. Viruses 2020; 12:v12121476. [PMID: 33371492 PMCID: PMC7767524 DOI: 10.3390/v12121476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Failing BK polyomavirus (BKPyV)-specific immune control is underlying onset and duration of BKPyV-replication and disease. We focused on BKPyV-specific CD8 T-cells as key effectors and characterized immunodominant 9mer epitopes in the viral large tumor-antigen (LTag). We investigated the variation of LTag-epitopes and their predicted effects on HLA-class 1 binding and T-cell activation. Available BKPyV sequences in the NCBI-nucleotide (N = 3263), and the NCBI protein database (N = 4189) were extracted (1368 sequences) and analyzed for non-synonymous aa-exchanges in LTag. Variant 9mer-epitopes were assessed for predicted changes in HLA-A and HLA-B-binding compared to immunodominant 9mer reference. We identified 159 non-synonymous aa-exchanges in immunodominant LTag-9mer T-cell epitopes reflecting different BKPyV-genotypes as well as genotype-independent variants altering HLA-A/HLA-B-binding scores. Decreased binding scores for HLA-A/HLA-B were found in 27/159 (17%). This included the immunodominant LPLMRKAYL affecting HLA-B*07:02-, HLA-B*08:01- and HLA-B*51:01-presentation. In two healthy BKPyV-seropositive HLA-B*07:02 blood donors, variant LSLMRKAYL showed reduced CD8 T-cell responses compared to LPLMRKAYL. Thus, despite LTag being highly conserved, aa-exchanges occur in immunodominant CD8 T-cell epitopes of BKPyV-genotypes as well as of genotypes -independent variants, which may contribute to genotype-dependent and genotype-independent failure of cellular immune control over BKPyV-replication. The data warrant epidemiological and immunological investigations in carefully designed clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karoline Leuzinger
- Transplantation & Clinical Virology, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Petersplatz 10, CH-4009 Basel, Switzerland; (K.L.); (A.K.); (M.W.)
- Clinical Virology, Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Amandeep Kaur
- Transplantation & Clinical Virology, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Petersplatz 10, CH-4009 Basel, Switzerland; (K.L.); (A.K.); (M.W.)
| | - Maud Wilhelm
- Transplantation & Clinical Virology, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Petersplatz 10, CH-4009 Basel, Switzerland; (K.L.); (A.K.); (M.W.)
| | - Hans H. Hirsch
- Transplantation & Clinical Virology, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Petersplatz 10, CH-4009 Basel, Switzerland; (K.L.); (A.K.); (M.W.)
- Clinical Virology, Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland
- Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +41-61-207-3266 or +41-61-207-3225
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