Corticosteroids and methotrexate as adjuvants to costimulation blockade in non-human primate renal transplantation.

ABSTRACT: Belatacept, the CD28-B7 costimulation pathway inhibitor, has been approved as a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) alternative in kidney transplantation. Although costimulation blockade (CoB) allows for CNI avoidance, it is associated with increased rates of early rejection, prompting a search for agents to pair with belatacept. Methotrexate (MTX) is an antimetabolite that has been found to be complimentary with abatacept, a lower affinity CD28-B7-specific analogue of belatacept, in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We examined whether this synergy would extend to prevention of kidney allograft rejection. Rhesus macaques underwent kidney transplantation treated with abatacept maintenance therapy with either a steroid taper, MTX, or both. The combination of abatacept maintenance with ste

SUBMITTER: Anderson DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6597274 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature