Glycolysis Changes in Alloreactive Memory B Cells in Highly Sensitized Kidney Transplant Recipients Undergoing Desensitization Therapy.

Despite the growing use of desensitization strategies, hyperimmune patients remain at high risk of antibody-mediated rejection suggesting that, even when donor-specific antibodies (DSA) are effectively depleted, anti-donor specific B cells persist. We included 10 highly sensitized recipients that underwent desensitization with plasmapheresis and B cell depletion prior to kidney transplantation. We quantified changes in DSA (luminex), total B-cell subsets (flow cytometry), anti-donor HLA B cells (fluorospot), and single-cell metabolism in serially collected samples before desensitization, at the time of transplant, and at 6 and 12 months thereafter.

Length of stay in at-risk areas and time to malaria attack on return.

Background: Experimental infection with Plasmodium falciparum results in malaria attack within a few days of exposure. However, we have regularly observed malaria attack within a short time after return, regardless of the time spent in an endemic area. We therefore aimed to assess whether the time before return and malaria attack varies according to length of stay.

The recent introduction of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and its intermediate host Achatina fulica into Guadeloupe detected by phylogenetic analyses.

Background: Angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lungworm) is the main pathogen responsible for eosinophilic meningitis in humans. One of its intermediate snail hosts, Achatina fulica, was already present in many countries around the world before it appeared in the West Indies in the late 1980s. In the French territories in the Caribbean and northern South America, the first cases of human neuroangiostrongyliasis were reported in Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana in 2002, 2013 and 2017, respectively.

Fatal HSV-2 primary infection most likely acquired by kidney transplantation: A case report.

Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) rarely causes severe disease, even in solid organ transplant recipients. This paper describes a fatal case of HSV-2 infection, probably transmitted from a donor to a kidney transplant recipient. The donor was seropositive for HSV-2 but not for HSV-1, whereas the recipient was seronegative for both viruses before transplantation, suggesting that the graft was the source of infection.

Tocilizumab Evaluation in HLA-Desensitization before Kidney Transplantation as an Add-On Therapy to Apheresis: The TETRA Study.

Background: Desensitization strategies improve access to transplantation in highly sensitized kidney transplant candidates. Tocilizumab could be a valuable addition to more traditional desensitization regimens. We investigated the effect of tocilizumab as an add-on therapy to our standard of care (SoC) desensitization strategy based on rituximab and apheresis.

Correction: A systematic review and an individual patient data meta-analysis of ivermectin use in children weighing less than fifteen kilograms: Is it time to reconsider the current contraindication?

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.

Early Blood Transfusion After Kidney Transplantation Does Not Lead to dnDSA Development: The BloodIm Study.

Outcomes after kidney transplantation are largely driven by the development of donor-specific antibodies (dnDSA), which may be triggered by blood transfusion. In this single-center study, we investigated the link between early blood transfusion and dnDSA development in a mainly anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG)-induced kidney-transplant cohort. We retrospectively included all recipients of a kidney transplant performed between 2004 and 2015, provided they had >3 months graft survival.

Crossing of the Cystic Barriers of by the Fluorescent Coumarin Tetra-Cyclopeptide.

FR235222 is a natural tetra-cyclopeptide with a strong inhibition effect on histone deacetylases, effective on mammalian cells as well as on intracellular apicomplexan parasites, such as in the tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages. This molecule is characterized by two parts: the zinc-binding group, responsible for the binding to the histone deacetylase, and the cyclic tetrapeptide moiety, which plays a crucial role in cell permeability. Recently, we have shown that the cyclic tetrapeptide coupled with a fluorescent diethyl-amino-coumarin was able to maintain properties of cellular penetration on human cells.

[Biobanking in a histocompatibility laboratory. Guidelines from the Francophone Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (SFHI)].

Histocompatibility laboratories perform the biological analyses linked related to organ transplant, hematopoietic stem cells transplant, some immune dysfunction diseases and immuno-allergy after therapeutic treatment. Most of these analyses are prospectively or retrospectively performed on sera and DNA. The Société Francophone d'Histocompatibilité et d'Immunogénétique (SFHI) has made some recommendations in order to define storage conditions and storage lifetime of the samples required in a histocompatibility laboratory.

[How to deal with an unexpected event that could alter the normal activity of cellular therapy? Recommendations of the Francophone Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (SFGM-TC)].

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly impacted cell therapy activities across the globe. Not only was this, unexpected event, a threat to patients who had previously received hematopoietic cell transplantation or other cell therapy such as CAR-T cells, but also, it was responsible for a disruption of cell therapy activities due to the danger of the virus and to the lack of solid scientific data on the management of patients and donors. The Francophone Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (SFGM-TC) devoted a workshop to issue useful recommendations in such an unexpected event in order to harmonize the actions of all the actors involved in cellular therapy programs so that we can collectively face, in the future, the challenges that could threaten our patients.

Characterization of the novel HLA-C*01:214 allele by sequencing-based typing.

HLA-C*01:214 differs from HLA-C*01:02:01:01 by one nucleotide substitution in codon -10 in exon 1.

Characterization of the novel HLA-A*26:208 allele by sequencing-based typing.

The novel HLA-A*26:208 allele was characterized using two next generation sequencing technologies.

A brain cyst load-associated antigen is a Toxoplasma gondii biomarker for serodetection of persistent parasites and chronic infection.

Background: Biomarker discovery remains a major challenge for predictive medicine, in particular, in the context of chronic diseases. This is true for the widespread protozoan Toxoplasma gondii which establishes long-lasting parasitism in metazoans, humans included. This microbe successively unfolds distinct genetic programs that direct the transition from high to low replicative potential inside host cells.

Characterization of the novel HLA-B*15:514 allele in a French hematopoietic stem cell donor.

The novel HLA-B*15:514 allele was characterized using two next-generation sequencing technologies.

Characterization of the novel HLA-DQB1*05:236N null allele in a French hematopoietic stem cell donor.

HLA-DQB1*05:236N differs from HLA-DQB1*05:03:01:01 by one nucleotide substitution at codon 34.1 in exon 2.

Characterization of the novel HLA-B*07:398 allele in a French hematopoietic stem cell donor.

HLA-B*07:398 differs from HLA-B*07:02:01:01 by one nucleotide substitution at codon 98.3 in exon 3.

Characterization of the novel HLA-DRB1*15:170 allele in a French hematopoietic stem cell donor.

HLA-DRB1*15:170 differs from HLA-DRB1*15:01:01:03 by one nucleotide substitution at codon 85 in exon 2.

Performance of a Toxo IgM prototype assay for the diagnosis of maternal and congenital Toxoplasma infections.

Background Testing for anti-Toxoplasma immunoglobulin (Ig)M is of main importance in the context of pregnancy to promptly alert to an acute maternal infection prior to the detection of IgG and to identify infected newborns. Their absence helps exclude a recent maternal infection in the presence of IgG. Methods The performance of a Toxo IgM immunocapture prototype assay (bioMérieux, France) was compared with that of the VIDAS® Toxo IgM and the ARCHITECT® Toxo IgM (Abbott, Germany) assays at Grenoble and Lyon (France).

Characterization of the novel HLA-C*02:185 allele in a kidney transplant recipient.

HLA-C*02:185 differs from HLA-C*02:02:02:01 by one nucleotide substitution at codon 180 in exon 3.