Scientific publications
Evaluation of humoral immunity profiles to identify heart recipients at risk for development of severe infections
Sarmiento E (1), Jaramillo M (1), Calahorra L (1), Fernandez-Yañez J (2), Gomez-Sanchez M (3), Crespo-Leiro MG (4), Paniagua M (4), Almenar L (5), Cebrian M (5), Rabago G (6), Levy B (6), Segovia J (7), Gomez-Bueno M (7), Lopez J (8), Mirabet S 9, Navarro J (1), Rodriguez-Molina JJ (1), Fernandez-Cruz E (1), Carbone J (10).
BACKGROUND:
New biomarkers are necessary to improve detection of the risk of infection in heart transplantation. We performed a multicenter study to evaluate humoral immunity profiles that could better enable us to identify heart recipients at risk of severe infections.
METHODS:
We prospectively analyzed 170 adult heart recipients at 8 centers in Spain. Study points were before transplantation and 7 and 30 days after transplantation. Immune parameters included IgG, IgM, IgA and complement factors C3 and C4, and titers of specific antibody to pneumococcal polysaccharide antigens (anti-PPS) and to cytomegalovirus (CMV).
To evaluate potential immunologic mechanisms leading to IgG hypogammaglobulinemia, before heart transplantation we assessed serum B-cell activating factor (BAFF) levels using enzyme-linked immunoassay. The clinical follow-up period lasted 6 months. Clinical outcome was need for intravenous anti-microbials for therapy of infection.
RESULTS:
During follow-up, 53 patients (31.2%) developed at least 1 severe infection. We confirmed that IgG hypogammaglobulinemia at Day 7 (defined as IgG <600 mg/dl) is a risk factor for infection in general, bacterial infections in particular, and CMV disease.
At Day 7 after transplantation, the combination of IgG <600 mg/dl + C3 <80 mg/dl was more strongly associated with the outcome (adjusted odds ratio 7.40; 95% confidence interval 1.48 to 37.03; p = 0.014). We found that quantification of anti-CMV antibody titers and lower anti-PPS antibody concentrations were independent predictors of CMV disease and bacterial infections, respectively. Higher pre-transplant BAFF levels were a risk factor of acute cellular rejection.
CONCLUSION:
Early immunologic monitoring of humoral immunity profiles proved useful for the identification of heart recipients who are at risk of severe infection.
CITATION J Heart Lung Transplant. 2017 May;36(5):529-539. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2016.10.004. Epub 2016 Oct 17.
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