Although kidney transplantation is the most effective treatment for children with kidney failure, rejection of the transplanted organ by the recipient’s immune system is a major concern. Transplant recipients must take life-long immunosuppressant drugs, most commonly tacrolimus, and some patients experience large fluctuations in blood levels of tacrolimus even when the dose is unchanged—a phenomenon called high tacrolimus intrapatient variability. In a recent study published in CJASN, pediatric kidney transplant recipients with such variability had higher risks of developing antibodies against the transplanted kidney, thereby putting them at risk of rejection.
Immunosuppressive drug’s blood level variability may identify kidney transplant recipients at risk of rejection
Although kidney transplantation is the most effective treatment for children with kidney failure, rejection of the transplanted organ by the recipient's immune system is a major concern. Transplant recipients must take life-long immunosuppressant drugs, most commonly tacrolimus, and some patients experience large fluctuations in blood levels of tacrolimus even when the dose is unchanged—a phenomenon called high tacrolimus intrapatient variability. In a recent study published in CJASN, pediatric kidney transplant recipients with such variability had higher risks of developing antibodies against the transplanted kidney, thereby putting them at risk of rejection.