title: Pre- and post-transplant monitoring of granzyme B enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay in pediatric liver recipients.
abstract: This study aims to investigate potential role of granzyme B enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (GrB ELISPOT) for immunological monitoring in pediatric liver transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 28 pediatric recipients were serially tested for GrB-producing donor-reactive cells at day 0 pre-transplantation (baseline) and days 7, 14, and 28 post-transplantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, no difference of GrB value was found in acute rejection (14/28) compared to normal graft function patients (day 0: 4(3.9) spots versus 5(2.9) spots, respectively: p=0.65). At day 7 post-transplantation, acute rejection patients showed frequencies of GrB ELISPOT higher than those with normal graft function, but the differences observed were not statistically significant (day 7: 15(4.9) spots versus 10(4.0) spots, respectively: p=0.55). GrB increased significantly at day 7 from baseline in the rejection group (15(4.9) spots versus 4(3.9), respectively p=0.04), whereas corresponding changes were not significant in the group without rejection (10(4.0) versus 5(2.9), respectively: p=0.15).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GrB ELISPOT pre-transplantation could not predict the occurrence of early post-transplant acute rejection; similarly frequencies at days 7, 14 and 28 could not be correlated with acute rejection in pediatric liver recipients. However, a kinetic study of GrB ELISPOT could be helpful to predict or confirm early rejection in the small group of liver allograft recipients analyzed in this study.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Liver Transplant Program, Saint-Luc University Clinics, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Dinh Quang
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cornet
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wieërs
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reding
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Latinne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000276:immunology; D053804:Granzymes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D008297:Male; D015166:Monitoring, Immunologic; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014181:Transplantation Immunology; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D053804:Granzymes