AN ANALYSIS OF CYTOKINE GENE POLYMORPHISMS ON ACUTE REJECTION IN RENAL RECI- PIENTS

QIQUAN WAN¹, DI WU¹, XIUZHEN XIAO^2*

¹Department of Transplant Surgery, the Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China -     Nursing unit of outpatient Department, the Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China

Introduction: We sought to investigate the role of recipients TNF-β, IL-10 , IL-1β and IL-1 receptor antagonist (ra) gene poly- morphism as well as other variables such as PRA levels and HLA mismatches in acute renal graft rejection.

Materials and methods: TNF-β (+252A/G), IL-10 (-592A/C), IL-1β (-511C/T) and IL-1ra (86bp VNTR) gene polymorphisms were investigated in 157 renal recipients for correlation with acute rejection within the first year after renal transplantation.

Results: Patients with increased panel-reactive antibody (PRA) levels were predisposed to acute renal graft rejection (P = 0.001). After adjusting for all variables of P < 0.3, a PRA level >10% remained significant risk factor in a multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR = 5.897, 95% CI = 1.884-18.456, P = 0.002).

Conclusion: Increased PRA levels have more significant impacts than cytokine gene polymorphisms on the likelyhood of deve- loping acute renal graft rejection. The necessary pre- and/or post-transplant measures to lower the PRA levels should be taken.

Keywords: Gene polymorphism, panel reactive antibody, acute rejection, renal transplant.