Antibody-mediated rejection in pediatric kidney transplantation: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management.

Kidney transplant is the preferred treatment of pediatric end-stage renal disease. One of the most challenging aspects of pediatric kidney transplant is the prevention and treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR), which is one of the main causes of graft dysfunction and early graft loss. Most challenges are similar to those faced in adult kidney transplants; however, factors unique to the pediatric realm include naivety of the immune system and the small number of studies and randomized controlled trials available when considering pharmacological treatment options.

Perturbations in the urinary exosome in transplant rejection.

Background: Urine exosomes are small vesicles exocytosed into the urine by all renal epithelial cell types under normal physiologic and disease states. Urine exosomal proteins may mirror disease specific proteome perturbations in kidney injury. Analysis methodologies for the exosomal fraction of the urinary proteome were developed for comparing the urinary exosomal fraction versus unfractionated proteome for biomarker discovery.

Activation and regulation of Toll-like receptors 2 and 1 in human leprosy.

The expression and activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) was investigated in leprosy, a spectral disease in which clinical manifestations correlate with the type of immune response mounted toward Mycobacterium leprae. TLR2-TLR1 heterodimers mediated cell activation by killed M. leprae, indicating the presence of triacylated lipoproteins.