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ABSTRACT: Background
Chronic deterioration of kidney graft function is related to inadequate immunosuppression (IS). A novel tool to assess the individual net state of IS in transplanted patients might be the monitoring of Torque teno virus (TTV) viral load. TTV is a non-pathogen virus detectable in almost all individuals. TTV level in the peripheral blood has been linked to the immune-competence of its host and should thus reflect IS after solid organ transplantation.Methods
TTV plasma load was quantified monthly by RT-PCR for a period of 1 year in 45 kidney-transplanted children. Post-transplant time was at least 3 months. The relation of the virus DNA levels to IS and transplant-specific clinical and laboratory parameters was analysed longitudinally.Results
TTV DNA was detectable in 94.5% of the plasma samples. There was a significant association with the post-transplant follow-up time as well as with the type of IS regimen, with lower virus loads in patients after longer post-transplant time and mTOR inhibitor-based IS. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation with the dose of prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil was found.Conclusions
TTV levels show an association/correlation with the strength of IS. Further studies are needed in order to evaluate TTV measurement as a tool for IS monitoring for hard clinical outcomes such as presence of donor-specific antibodies, rejections or infections-common consequences of insufficient or too intense IS.
SUBMITTER: Uhl P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7701084 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Uhl Phoebe P Heilos Andreas A Bond Gregor G Meyer Elias E Böhm Michael M Puchhammer-Stöckl Elisabeth E Arbeiter Klaus K Müller-Sacherer Thomas T Csaicsich Dagmar D Aufricht Christoph C Rusai Krisztina K
Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) 20200610 1
<h4>Background</h4>Chronic deterioration of kidney graft function is related to inadequate immunosuppression (IS). A novel tool to assess the individual net state of IS in transplanted patients might be the monitoring of Torque teno virus (TTV) viral load. TTV is a non-pathogen virus detectable in almost all individuals. TTV level in the peripheral blood has been linked to the immune-competence of its host and should thus reflect IS after solid organ transplantation.<h4>Methods</h4>TTV plasma lo ...[more]