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Junge N, Di Giorgio A, Girard M, Demir Z, Kaminska D, Janowska M, Urbonas V, Varnas D, Maggiore G, Alterio T, Leiskau C, Vondran FWR, Richter N, D’Antiga L, Mikolajczyk R, Pfister ED, Baumann U. Cold Ischemia Time and Graft Fibrosis Are Associated with Autoantibodies after Pediatric Liver Transplantation: A Retrospective Cohort Study of the European Reference Network TransplantChild. CHILDREN 2022; 9:children9020275. [PMID: 35204995 PMCID: PMC8870233 DOI: 10.3390/children9020275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The reported prevalence of autoantibodies (AAB) (ANA, SMA, LKM, SLA) after pediatric liver transplantation (pLTX) varies considerably from 26–75%, but their clinical impact on outcome is uncertain. We aimed to study the prevalence of AAB after pLTX, their association with donor-, transplant-, and recipient-characteristics, and their relation to outcome. In our multicenter retrospective study, we aimed to clarify conflicting results from earlier studies. Six ERN TransplantChild centers reported data on 242 patients, of whom 61% were AAB positive. Prevalence varied across these centers. Independent of the interval between pLTX and AAB analysis, a one-hour increase in CIT resulted in an odds ratio (OR) of 1.37 (95% CI 1.11–1.69) for SMA positivity and an OR of 1.42 (95%CI 1.18–1.72) for ANA positivity. Steroid-free immunosuppression (IS) versus steroid-including IS (OR 5.28; 95% CI 1.45–19.28) was a risk factor for SMA positivity. Liver enzymes were not associated with ANA or SMA positivity. We did not observe an association of rejection activity index with ANA or SMA. However, the liver fibrosis score in follow-up biopsies was associated with ANA titer and donor age. In conclusion, this first multicenter study on AAB after pLTX showed high AAB prevalence and varied widely between centers. Longer CIT and prednisolone-free-IS were associated with AAB positivity, whereas AAB were not indicative of rejection, but instead were associated with graft fibrosis. The detection of AAB may be a marker of liver fibrosis and may be taken into consideration when indications for liver biopsy and immunosuppressive regimes, or reduction of immunosuppression in long-term follow-up, are being discussed. Prospective immunological profiling of pLTX patients, including AAB, is important to further improve our understanding of transplant immunology and silent graft fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norman Junge
- Division for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Peadiatric Kidney, Liver, and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (C.L.); (E.-D.P.); (U.B.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-511-532-3233; Fax: +49-511-532-3294
| | - Angelo Di Giorgio
- Department of Paediatric Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Transplantation, Azienda Ospedaliera Papa Giovanni XXIII, 24127 Bergamo, Italy; (A.D.G.); (L.D.)
| | - Muriel Girard
- Hépatologie Pédiatrique–Transplantation Hépatique, Hospital Necker Enfants-Malades, 75015 Paris, France; (M.G.); (Z.D.)
| | - Zeynep Demir
- Hépatologie Pédiatrique–Transplantation Hépatique, Hospital Necker Enfants-Malades, 75015 Paris, France; (M.G.); (Z.D.)
| | - Diana Kaminska
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Nutritional Disorders and Pediatrics, The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, 04-730 Warsaw, Poland;
| | - Maria Janowska
- Department of Pediatric Surgery & Organ Transplantation, The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, 04-730 Warsaw, Poland;
| | - Vaidotas Urbonas
- Clinic of Children’s Diseases, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (V.U.); (D.V.)
| | - Dominykas Varnas
- Clinic of Children’s Diseases, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (V.U.); (D.V.)
| | - Giuseppe Maggiore
- Gastrointestinal, Liver, Nutrition Disorders Unit, Liver Transplantation Center, IRCCS Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù, 00165 Rome, Italy; (G.M.); (T.A.)
| | - Tommaso Alterio
- Gastrointestinal, Liver, Nutrition Disorders Unit, Liver Transplantation Center, IRCCS Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù, 00165 Rome, Italy; (G.M.); (T.A.)
| | - Christoph Leiskau
- Division for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Peadiatric Kidney, Liver, and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (C.L.); (E.-D.P.); (U.B.)
- Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Pediatric Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg August University, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Florian W. R. Vondran
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (F.W.R.V.); (N.R.)
| | - Nicolas Richter
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (F.W.R.V.); (N.R.)
| | - Lorenzo D’Antiga
- Department of Paediatric Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Transplantation, Azienda Ospedaliera Papa Giovanni XXIII, 24127 Bergamo, Italy; (A.D.G.); (L.D.)
| | - Rafael Mikolajczyk
- Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, Germany;
| | - Eva-Doreen Pfister
- Division for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Peadiatric Kidney, Liver, and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (C.L.); (E.-D.P.); (U.B.)
| | - Ulrich Baumann
- Division for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Peadiatric Kidney, Liver, and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (C.L.); (E.-D.P.); (U.B.)
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