title: A population-based assessment of the familial component of acute kidney allograft rejection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The genetic determinants of acute kidney transplant rejection (AR) are not well studied, and familial aggregation has never been demonstrated. The goal of this retrospective case-control study was to exploit the unique nature of the Utah Population Database (UPDB) to evaluate if AR or rejection-free survival aggregates in families.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified 891 recipients with genealogy data in the UPDB with at least one year of follow-up, of which 145 (16.1%) had AR and 77 recipients had biopsy-proven rejection graded >or=1A. We compared the genealogical index of familiality (GIF) in cases and controls (i.e. recipients with random assignment of rejection status).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We did not find evidence for familial clustering of AR in the entire patient population or in the subgroup with early rejection (n = 52). When the subgroup of recipients with rejection grade >or=1A (n = 77) was analysed separately, we observed increased familial clustering (GIF = 3.02) compared to controls (GIF = 1.96), although the p-value did not reach the level of statistical significance (p = 0.17). Furthermore, we observed an increase in familial clustering in recipients who had a rejection-free course (GIF = 2.45) as compared to controls (GIF = 2.08, p = 0.04). When all recipients were compared to non-transplant controls, they demonstrated a much greater degree of familiality (GIF = 2.03 versus GIF 0.63, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a familial component to rejection-free transplant course and trend to familial aggregation in recipients with AR grade 1A or higher. If a genetic association study is performed, there are families in Utah identified in the current study that can be targeted to increase the power of the test.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. agoldfar@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Goldfarb-Rumyantzev
authors.forename: Fuad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shihab
authors.forename: Lyska
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mineau
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.forename: Hongying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Cheri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naiman
authors.forename: Lonnie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kerber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate