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Project

Mechanisms and significance of microcirculation inflammation in renal allografts

Kidney transplantation is the most effective treatment for renal failure. Despite improvements in short-term graft survival, long-term graft outcome after renal transplantation remains dramatically impaired. Antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR), which is hallmarked by microcirculation inflammation, is regarded as a major reason for graft failure. Most immunosuppressive therapies cannot prevent or treat this process and patients are forced to resume dialysis or wait for a repeat transplant. Therefore, novel preventive and therapeutic approaches are urgently needed for ABMR to improve outcome after transplantation. The processes that play a role in ABMR remain unclear and insights in these processes may lead to promising targets for prevention and treatment of ABMR. Our group showed that NK cells are involved in microcirculation inflammation of the renal allograft, even in absence of donor-specific antibodies. NK cells act as first line defense mechanism against tumours, viruses and bacteria. We want to elucidate the role of NK cells in antibody-independent and antibody-dependent microcirculation inflammation of renal allografts by studying a large multicenter cohort of kidney transplant recipients that are available at the Leuven Biobank, and through international collaborations. These new insights will improve clinical diagnostics and disease reclassification, and avoid giving toxic antibody-targeted therapy to patients with antibody-independent microcirculation inflammation.

Date:1 Jan 2020 →  31 Dec 2023
Keywords:Kidney transplantation, microcirculation inflammation, renal allografts
Disciplines:Transplantation immunology, Kidney transplantation