Rutgers Health researchers and other medical scientists involved in a large international study have identified new signs of kidney transplant rejection that could lead to more precise diagnosis and treatment for transplant recipients. The research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine , examined more than 16,000 kidney transplant biopsies and found that certain results previously thought to be of questionable significance actually indicate an increased risk of transplant failure. "This study reveals that inflammation in even the smaller blood vessels around the kidneys predicts trouble down the road," said Vikas Dharnidharka, the chair of pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and one of the study authors.
Transplantation typically provides patients with nonworking kidneys longer and better lives than dialysis, but many transplants fail because patient bodies reject the new organ and direct their immune systems against it. Doctors reduce rejection risk by giving transplant patients medications that suppress their immune systems. They adjust medication levels by using blood tests and biopsies to monitor transplanted kidneys.
Post-transplant treatment is a delicate balance between protecting the transplanted organ from immune system attack and protecting the patient against infectious diseases that attack an overly suppressed immune system. "If you try to treat a rejection with stronger immunosuppression medicines, you run the risk of life-threate.
