B cell depletion with anti-CD20 mAb exacerbates anti-donor CD4⁺ T cell responses in highly sensitized transplant recipients.

ABSTRACT: Pretransplant desensitization with rituximab has been applied to preformed donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen antibody (DSA)-positive recipients for elimination of preformed DSA. We investigated the impact of pretransplant desensitization with rituximab on anti-donor T cell responses in DSA-positive transplant recipients. To monitor the patients' immune status, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assays were performed before and after desensitization with rituximab. Two weeks after rituximab administration, the stimulation index (SI) of anti-donor CD4⁺ T cells was significantly higher in the DSA-positive recipients than in the DSA-negative recipients. To investigate the mechanisms of anti-donor hyper responses of CD4⁺ T cells after B cell depletion, highly sensit

SUBMITTER: Tanaka A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8437972 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature