A Randomized Prospective Study Comparing Anti-T-Lymphocyte Igs to Basiliximab in Highly Sensitized Kidney Transplant Patients.

Background: Two prospective studies that were performed before the era of highly sensitive solid-phase assays have shown a lower incidence of acute rejection in highly sensitized kidney-transplant patients given polyclonal antibodies compared with those given anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies.

Methods: This prospective pilot randomized French multicenter study aimed to compare anti-T-lymphocyte Ig (ATLG) ( = 32) and basiliximab ( = 27) in highly sensitized kidney-transplant patients without preformed donor-specific antibodies (pDSAs) as assessed by a Luminex Single-Antigen flow bead assay. Only patients with a calculated panel reactive antibody ≥50%, with at least 1 antibody with a mean fluorescence intensity ≥5000 and without a historical pDSA and without a pDSA on the day of transplantation were included.

Results: Treatment failure as defined by biopsy-proven acute rejection, patient lost to follow-up, graft loss, and death was observed in 18.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.9%-37.1%) and 18.8% (95% CI, 8.9%-37.1%) in patients who received ATLG and 14.8% (95% CI, 5.8%-34.8%) and 28.2% (95% CI, 14.2%-51.2%) of patients who received basiliximab, respectively at 6 ( = 0.66) and 12 ( = 0.62) months post-transplantation. One T cell-mediated rejection was observed in ATLG-treated patients (3.1%). One antibody-mediated rejection due to a donor-specific antibody (DSA) occurred in basiliximab-treated patients (3.7%). Patient survival, graft survival, kidney parameters, and infection rate were similar in the 2 groups.

Conclusion: This pilot study indicates that in highly sensitized kidney-transplant patients without pDSAs, both ATLG and basiliximab can be used efficiently and safely. However, because of the lack of power, these results should be interpreted with caution.