Rituximab therapy prevents focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis recurrence after a second renal transplantation.

Preventive treatment of focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) allograft recurrence in high risk recipients having a prior history of graft loss caused by FSGS recurrence is still a challenging question. We retrospectively identified four patients who underwent a second renal transplantation because of recurrent FSGS and who received Rituximab therapy as a prophylactic treatment. Loss of their first allograft was directly related to an early (<3 months) recurrence of FSGS that was either resistant to plasmapheresis therapy in two cases or had escaped to this therapeutic management in the two others.

Intrarenal IFN-γ mRNA expression differentiates clinical and subclinical glomerulitis in renal transplant recipients.

Background: Transplant glomerulitis, characterized by mononuclear cell infiltration of glomeruli, is likely to occur during clinical or subclinical antibody-mediated rejection.

Methods: To determine whether T-cell phenotype influences the clinical presentation of this pathologic condition, we used reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction to analyze expression of Treg cells (Foxp3), cytotoxic CD8 T cells (Granzyme B), Th1 cells (INF-γ,T Bet), Th2 cells (GATA3, IL-4), and Th17 pathway (IL-17). Our study included 20 renal transplant recipients exhibiting subclinical glomerulitis (SG) diagnosed after a routine 3-month posttransplant biopsy.

Acute kidney injury in sickle patients with painful crisis or acute chest syndrome and its relation to pulmonary hypertension.

Background: The association between chronic kidney involvement and sickle cell disease (SCD) has been well characterized, but our knowledge on acute kidney injury (AKI) in relation to SCD remains limited.

Methods: We retrospectively assessed 254 episodes of vaso-occlusive complication in 161 SCD patients who were admitted to our hospital: these included 174 episodes of painful crisis (PC), 58 episodes of moderate acute chest syndrome (ACS) and 22 episodes of severe ACS.

Results: The overall incidence of AKI [defined according to Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria] during vaso-occlusive complications was low (4.

Intragraft levels of Foxp3 mRNA predict progression in renal transplants with borderline change.

The optimal therapeutic management of borderline lymphocytic infiltrates in renal allografts, described by Banff criteria, is unknown, largely because of the inability to predict clinical outcome in these cases. For determination of molecular factors that may predict outcome in cases of borderline change histology, mRNA levels of Foxp3, Granzyme B, IFN-gamma, IL-23, and RORgammat were measured in renal tissue from 46 untreated patients. Twenty-five patients were considered "nonprogressive," defined by a serum creatinine that remained <110% of baseline during the 40 d after biopsy.