Uremia-Associated Premature Ageing Of T Cells Does Not Predict Infectious Complications After Renal Transplantation.

Abstract

End-stage renal disease patients have a prematurely aged T-cell system. Here, we tested whether T-cell ageing parameters are associated with the risk for infections after renal transplantation (RT). We studied 188 patients during one year. Peripheral T cells were analyzed before, and 3 and 6 months after RT, for recent thymic emigrants frequency, the relative telomere length and differentiation status. These parameters were related to the occurrence of opportunistic (OI) and serious infections (SI). Eighty-four patients developed an infection. In this group, 50 developed an OI and 53 an SI. T-cell ageing parameters assessed pre-RT were not associated with infection risk. The memory T cells showed a decrease within the first 3 months in both groups (p<0.001). The CD4(+) memory T cells increased between T=3 and T=6 within the infection group (p=0.015). The number of CD8(+) memory T cells increased in both groups (p<0.001), but reached baseline levels only in the infection group. In the infection group the CD8(+) CD28null T-cell percentage increased between T=3 and T=6 (p=0.024), tending to be higher than at baseline (p=0.061). These differences in the post-RT dynamics was a consequence of the infections. Parameters of uremia-associated premature ageing of peripheral T-cells do not predict post-transplant infections. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.