Immunosuppressive drug withdrawal late after liver transplantation improves the lipid profile and reduces infections

Immunosuppressive Medication Adherence in Patients With Hepatocellular Cancer Who Have Undergo Liver Transplantation: A Case Control Study

BACKGROUND

We aimed to compare the adherence to immunosuppressive medication use in patients who underwent liver transplantation (LT) due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and non-HCC reasons.

METHODS

The study population was determined as 242 patients with HCC and 1290 patients with non-HCC who had LT performed in our institute between March 2002 and November 2021; all these patients were contacted by phone in March 2022. The sample size was calculated using the MedCalc software program, and the number of patients required in each group was determined as 111 patients. Furthermore, we used the sample.int function, a random integer generator in the R (version 4.1.2) software program. Whereas demographic and clinical parameters were determined as independent variables, the immunosuppressive medication adherence scale (IMAS) score was determined as a dependent variable. Patients were evaluated by the IMAS. This 11-item IMAS scale evaluates the lowest compliance score as 11 and the highest as 55.

RESULTS

Out of a total number of 221 patients, 161 (72%) were men and 60 (27.1%) were women, with a median age of 58 years (IQR: 14); one patient in the non-HCC group was excluded due to lack of data. Among the HCC and non-HCC groups, significant differences were found in terms of the variables of age (P = .003), IMAS score (P < .001), sex (P = .001), working status (P = .004), chronic diseases (P = .008), tacrolimus alone (P < .001), tacrolimus plus everolimus (P < .001), and often medication changes (P < .001). A statistically significant correlation was found between the IMAS score and whether the patients had HCC (P < .001) and frequently changing immunosuppressive drugs (P = .023).

CONCLUSION

This study showed that patients with frequent drug changes or non-HCC etiology had better adherence to immunosuppressive drug use.

A Reduction of Calcineurin Inhibitors May Improve Survival in Patients with De Novo Colorectal Cancer after Liver Transplantation

Background and Objectives: After liver transplantation (LT), long-term immunosuppression (IS) is essential. IS is associated with de novo malignancies, and the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increased in LT patients. We assessed course of disease in patients with de novo CRC after LT with focus of IS and impact on survival in a retrospective, single-center study. Materials and Methods: All patients diagnosed with CRC after LT between 1988 and 2019 were included. The management of IS regimen following diagnosis and the oncological treatment approach were analyzed: Kaplan−Meier analysis as well as univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. Results: A total of 33 out of 2744 patients were diagnosed with CRC after LT. Two groups were identified: patients with restrictive IS management undergoing dose reduction (RIM group, n = 20) and those with unaltered regimen (maintenance group, n = 13). The groups did not differ in clinical and oncological characteristics. Statistically significant improved survival was found in Kaplan−Meier analysis for patients in the RIM group with 83.46 (8.4−193.1) months in RIM and 24.8 (0.5−298.9) months in the maintenance group (log rank = 0.02) and showed a trend in multivariate cox regression (p = 0.054, HR = 14.3, CI = 0.96−213.67). Conclusions: Immunosuppressive therapy should be reduced further in patients suffering from CRC after LT in an individualized manner to enable optimal oncological therapy and enable improved survival.

Current Tolerance-Associated Peripheral Blood Gene Expression Profiles After Liver Transplantation Are Influenced by Immunosuppressive Drugs and Prior Cytomegalovirus Infection

Spontaneous operational tolerance to the allograft develops in a proportion of liver transplant (LTx) recipients weaned off immunosuppressive drugs (IS). Several previous studies have investigated whether peripheral blood gene expression profiles could identify operational tolerance in LTx recipients. However, the reported gene expression profiles differed greatly amongst studies, which could be caused by inadequate matching of clinical parameters of study groups. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to validate differentially expressed immune system related genes described in previous studies that identified tolerant LTx recipients after IS weaning. Blood was collected of tolerant LTx recipients (TOL), a control group of LTx recipients with regular IS regimen (CTRL), a group of LTx recipients with minimal IS regimen (MIN) and healthy controls (HC), and groups were matched on age, sex, primary disease, time after LTx, and cytomegalovirus serostatus after LTx. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to determine expression of twenty selected genes and transcript variants in PBMCs. Several genes were differentially expressed between TOL and CTRL groups, but none of the selected genes were differentially expressed between HC and TOL. Principal component analysis revealed an IS drug dosage effect on the expression profile of these genes. These data suggest that use of IS profoundly affects gene expression in peripheral blood, and that these genes are not associated with operational tolerance. In addition, expression levels of SLAMF7 and NKG7 were affected by prior cytomegalovirus infection in LTx recipients. In conclusion, we found confounding effects of IS regimen and prior cytomegalovirus infection, on peripheral blood expression of several selected genes that were described as tolerance-associated genes by previous studies.

Activated CD4+ T Cells and Highly Differentiated Alloreactive CD4+ T Cells Distinguish Operationally Tolerant Liver Transplantation Recipients

Spontaneous operational tolerance to the allograft develops in a proportion of liver transplantation (LT) recipients weaned off immunosuppressive (IS) drugs. Several studies have investigated whether peripheral blood circulating T cells could play a role in the development or identify operational tolerance, but never characterized alloreactive T cells in detail due to the lack of a marker for these T cells. In this study, we comprehensively investigated phenotypic and functional characteristics of alloreactive circulating T cell subsets in tolerant LT recipients (n = 15) using multiparameter flow cytometry and compared these with LT recipients on IS drugs (n = 23) and healthy individuals (n = 16). Activation-induced CD137 was used as a marker for alloreactive T cells upon allogenic stimulation. We found that central and effector memory CD4+ T cells were hyporesponsive against donor and third-party splenocyte stimulation in tolerant LT recipients, whereas an overall hyperresponsiveness was observed in alloreactive terminally differentiated effector memory CD4+ T cells. In addition, elevated percentages of circulating activated T helper cells were observed in these recipients. Lastly, tolerant and control LT recipients did not differ in donor-specific antibody formation. In conclusion, a combination of circulating hyperresponsive highly differentiated alloreactive CD4+ T cells and circulating activated T helper cells could discriminate tolerant recipients from a larger group of LT recipients.

Comparison of the characteristics of adult liver transplant recipients with prope (almost) tolerance and full immunosuppression regimen

BACKGROUND

The liver transplant recipients are often subjected to excessive therapy by immunosuppressive drugs which produce several complications. Consequently, the minimization or even withdrawal of immunosuppression in selected patients is an attractive alternative. We investigated the frequency and characteristics of these near (or prope from Latin) tolerance in liver transplant recipients in Shiraz Organ Transplant Center.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We reviewed the medical records of over 3800 adult liver transplant recipients to select a group treated with a low-dose tacrolimus monotherapy (n = 90) between 1994 and 2017 in our transplant center. The patients with the best liver function parameters were selected; then, the clinician arbitrarily decided to withdraw steroids first and then mycophenolate mofetil and maintain each patient on a low dose tacrolimus. We compared the characteristics of prope tolerant recipients on a low-dose tacrolimus with those on standard immunosuppression, namely full-dose tacrolimus plus steroids and mycophenolate mofetil (n = 233). Data were analyzed by t-test, chi-square test using SPSS software version 16.

RESULTS

Out of over 3800 liver transplant patients, 90 (2.34%) recipients were treated with a minimum dose of tacrolimus monotherapy. These recipients were compared to a selected group of 233 (6.1%) recipients treated with full-dose tacrolimus plus steroids and mycophenolate mofetil. In a prope tolerant group, there were 55 males (61.1%) and 35 females (38.9%) recipients. Mean age at the time of transplant was 39.92 ± (SD = 13.40) years with an average time from the transplantation time to completed weaning from triple immunosuppression to low-dose monotherapy of 41.35 months (SD = 17.27). The most common etiology of liver disease among both groups was viral hepatitis.

CONCLUSION

The achievement of prope (almost) immune tolerance was possible only in some liver transplant recipients with a relatively low risk of rejection. Our analysis suggests that there is a difference in the underlying diseases and recipients' age and the number of rejections between the two groups.