Sarwal Lab Demonstrates Association Between Pre-Transplant Antibody Levels and Recurrence of FSGS
UCSF News recently reported on research of the Sarwal Lab demonstrating pre-transplant antibody levels were associated with recurrence of FSGS.
Researchers at UC San Francisco and Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, may have found a predictor for a disorder affecting kidney transplant recipients that can accelerate organ failure, a discovery that eventually could allow for customized therapies and improved patient selection for transplant.
The study of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a devastating form of kidney disease, is in the Oct. 1 issue of Science Translational Medicine. Research was conducted by an international study team, with Necker Hospital in Paris and UCSF joint lead authors and Rush University Medical Center and UCSF joint senior authors.
'This is a new blood test to monitor patients before kidney transplant and predict who may have recurrence of FSGS, thereby preventing loss of kidneys', said co-senior author Minnie Sarwal, MD, PhD, Professor of Transplant Surgery at UCSF and Director of the Sarwal Lab. Investigator Tara Sigdel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Transplant Surgery, also played a key role in the research.
In the kidneys, the glomeruli serve as filters, helping rid the body of unnecessary or harmful substances. After a kidney transplant, scar tissue can form on parts of the donated kidney glomeruli, causing FSGS.
Kidney transplant patients with FSGS face a high risk of disease recurrence, 20-40 percent after a first transplant and up to 80 percent after a second. Its causes are largely unknown and may include circulating proteins and antibodies. Recurrence is managed by immunosuppressive drugs along with current standards of treatment that include salt restriction, diuretics and steroids, plasma filtration, and immunoadsorption.
'The clinical and economic impact of changing the course of FSGS recurrence has far-reaching implications,' the study authors wrote. 'These include improved graft survival, reduced patient morbidity, reduced cost of salvage therapies including dialysis, and the preservation and increased availability of transplant organs.'...............