Medical outcomes of adolescent live kidney donors

Should minors and young adults qualify as potential live kidney donors? The views of international transplant professionals

Although live kidney donation (LD) has become an increasingly common procedure, European and US transplant centres disagree as to whether minors and young adults should qualify as donor candidates. Therefore, we aimed to better understand the attitudes and viewpoints of transplant professionals. We conducted fourteen in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of international transplant professionals from various professional backgrounds. Data analysis was guided by QUAGOL, a systematic approach based on the constant-comparative method. Professionals expressed a cautionary view, worrying about the uncertain long-term medical and psychosocial consequences of LD at a young age. They also worried that young individuals' decisions are more likely to be influenced by their psychosocial developmental stage or family pressure. As these concerns were more significant for minors as compared to young adults, minors were deemed ineligible for LD except for in highly exceptional circumstances. Professionals' attitudes were also influenced by the expected benefits for the recipient and the availability of therapeutic alternatives, as well as the strength of the donor-recipient relationship. More prospective research on the long-term medical and psychological outcomes in young adult donors is likely to shed more light on the acceptability of LD by adolescents and young adults.

Living Organ Donation by Minors: An Analysis of the Regulations in European Union Member States

Living organ donation (LD) is an increasingly established practice. Whereas in the United States and Canada LD by minors has occasionally been reported, LD by minors seems to be largely absent in the European Union (EU). It is currently unclear whether this is the result of a different legal approach. This study is the first to systematically analyze the regulations of EU member states, Norway, and Iceland toward LD by minors. Relevant regulations were identified by searching government websites, translated, compared, and sent for verification to national legal experts. We identified five countries where LD by minors is allowed. In two of these (Belgium and the United Kingdom), some minors may be deemed sufficiently mature to make an autonomous decision regarding LD. In contrast, in the three other countries (Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden), LD by minors is only allowed subject to parental permission and the assent (or absence of objection) of the donor. Where allowed, regulations differ significantly with regard to the substantive and procedural safeguards in place. In view of the controversial nature of the procedure, as illustrated by recent reports and surveys, we argue for a very cautious approach and greater harmonization in countries where LD by minors is allowed.

Aging has small effects on initial ischemic acute kidney injury development despite changing intrarenal immunologic micromilieu in mice

Inflammatory process mediated by innate and adaptive immune systems is a major pathogenic mechanism of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). There are concerns that organ recipients may be at increased risk of developing IRI after receiving kidneys from elder donors. To reveal the effects of aging on the development of renal IRI, we compared the immunologic micromilieu of normal and postischemic kidneys from mice of three different ages (9 wk, 6 mo, and 12 mo). There was a higher number of total T cells, especially effector memory CD4/CD8 T cells, and regulatory T cells in the normal kidneys of old mice. On day 2 after IRI, the proportion of necrotic tubules and renal functional changes were comparable between groups although old mice had a higher proportion of damaged tubule compared with young mice. More T cells, but less B cells, trafficked into the postischemic kidneys of old mice. The infiltration of NK T cells was similar across the groups. Macrophages and neutrophils were comparable between groups in both normal kidneys and postischemic kidneys. The intrarenal expressions of TNF-α and VEGF were decreased in normal and postischemic kidneys of aged mice. These mixed effects of aging on lymphocytes and cytokines/chemokines were not different between the two groups of old mice. Our study demonstrates that aging alters the intrarenal micromilieu but has small effects on the development of initial renal injury after IRI. Further study investigating aging-dependent differences in the repair process of renal IRI may be required.