Safety of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-treated donors for kidney transplantation excluding occult HCV infection through kidney biopsies

Pathological Consequences in Anti-HCV Antibody-Positive Organ Donation to an Anti-HCV Antibody-Negative Recipient

BACKGROUND

The need to expand the pool of available organs for transplantation has meant that the use of marginal organs is increasingly widespread. The advent of antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has made it possible to consider the donation of organs from HCV-positive donors and even from viremic donors.

METHODS

In HCV-positive to HCV-negative antibody donor transplantation, the development of antibodies to HCV is uneven, depending on the organ transplanted and with differences in the time of appearance. Whether the subsequent disappearance is attributed to the development of antibodies or the transmission of immunity between donor and recipient remains unclear. In transplantation from an HCV-infected donor to a HCV-seronegative recipient, the administration of antiviral therapy to the recipient before transplantation or a few days after transplantation achieves sustained response in almost all cases. We wanted to deepen the argument by studying the data in the literature, focusing on kidney transplantation, considering that this could be of interest, particularly for possible long-term renal damage.

RESULTS

HCV infection both ongoing and previous, as well as the presence of HCV antibodies alone, can be responsible for kidney damage.

CONCLUSIONS

Direct-acting anti-HCV therapy has revolutionized the treatment of HCV disease and the therapeutic possibilities of transplantation. However, we believe it is useful to keep in mind the pathophysiology of HCV-related damage especially in patients with a long life expectancy, using all emerging strategies to minimize the risk of transmission of infection or development of viremia.

Assessing Tissue Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus From Viremic Donor to Seronegative Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Case Series

The transmission of hepatitis C virus from viremic donors to seronegative recipients of kidney transplantation is well documented. Pre-transplant administration of direct-acting antivirals prevents viremia, but the seroconversion rate is high. We studied the transmission of the virus through the transplanted tissue by determining viral RNA in 15 kidneys from 8 deceased viremic donors, 5 males and 3 females aged 52.3 ± 15 years. HIV positive donors and active intravenous drugs abusers were discarded to avoid possible window periods in the virus transmission. Recipients, 9 males and 6 females aged 52.7 ± 18 years, were treated with glecaprevir/pibrentasvir for 8 weeks and received immunosuppression with thymoglobulin, tacrolimus, sirolimus and prednisone. Hepatitis C Virus was detected in 9 of the 15 histological samples analyzed but viremia was detected in no recipient at day 1 and 7 post-transplantation and 12 weeks after the treatment. However, 13 of the 15 recipients had seroconverted within 1 month. In conclusion, Hepatitis C virus was detected in a significant proportion of tissue of kidney grafts from viremic donors, but treatment with direct-acting antivirals avoids the transmission of the virus from donor to recipient. Then Donor pools should be expanded.

No evidence of occult hepatitis C or E virus infections in liver-transplant patients with sustained virological response after therapy with direct acting agents

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

It has been recently suggested that occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and hepatitis E virus (HEV) reactivation might occur after direct acting antiviral agent-induced (DAA-induced) sustained virological response (SVR). The aim of our study was to identify occult HCV and HEV infection in a cohort of organ transplant patients who had achieved SVR and had persistent elevation in liver-enzyme levels.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

Sixty-six liver and/or kidney transplant patients were treated with DAAs. All but one achieved SVR12. Twenty-nine (8-39) months post-SVR12, 8 of the 65 patients (12.3%) who achieved SVR12 had persistently elevated liver enzyme levels. In 1 patient, this was related to hepatitis B virus reactivation. In the 7 remaining patients, blood samples (n = 7), liver biopsies (n = 4), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (n = 7) were collected simultaneously in order to identify occult HCV or HEV infection.

RESULTS

Hepatitis C virus RNA and HEV RNA were not detected in serum, liver tissues, or PBMCs. No HEV reactivation was observed after HCV clearance in patients who had anti-HEV IgG.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that there is no occult HCV or HEV infection in transplant patients after successful treatment of HCV infection with DAAs, even in patients with a persistent elevation of liver enzyme levels. However, due to the small number of patients included in our study, this finding should be confirmed in a larger cohort.