Publications by authors named "Tony Koenig"
Transplant recipients, who receive therapeutic immunosuppression to prevent graft rejection, are characterized by high coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related mortality and defective response to vaccines. We observed that previous infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but not the standard two-dose regimen of vaccination, provided protection against symptomatic COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients. We therefore compared the cellular and humoral immune responses of these two groups of patients.
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- Current understanding suggests that microvascular inflammation (MVI) from antibody responses is primarily responsible for graft failure, but about half of the renal transplant recipients with MVI show no antibody involvement in their histological damage.
- Genetic analysis reveals that these patients often have mismatched donor HLA I and recipient inhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs).
- Further research indicates that the lack of HLA I signals from graft endothelial cells leads to the activation of natural killer (NK) cells, causing endothelial damage, and this process can be inhibited with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin.
Spirituality, an established resource within rural America, serves as an important coping mechanism for crises of chronic illness. We examined the effects of spirituality on chronic kidney disease (CKD) maintenance in the rural community of Robeson County, North Carolina. We conducted nine focus group discussions and 16 interviews involving 80 diverse key informants impacted by CKD.
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