Cell population in spleens during antibody-mediated rejection:  pathologic and clinical findings.
BACKGROUND
In the treatment of refractory antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), splenectomy has been associated with surprisingly rapid recovery of renal function. The mechanism is still unclear.


METHODS
We review 11 recipients, who underwent rescue splenectomy (RS) as a treatment of AMR within 3 months after kidney transplantation. At transplantation, all patients had undergone desensitization for initially positive crossmatch to their prospective donors. The cellular populations of the spleen were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. For comparison, we obtained spleen specimens from eight controls who were non-transplantation patients.


RESULTS
Rejection occurred in all the patients early after transplantation (mean [SD], 7.1 [5.7] days). One graft was lost 4 weeks after kidney transplantation. A significantly higher number of plasma cells (PCs) (P=0.049) and lower number of T and B lymphocytes (P=0.02 and P=0.005, respectively) were detected in the RS group compared with the control group. By analyzing the PC variations in the RS group, significantly lower numbers of PCs were detected in the spleens of patients who received rituximab before splenectomy (P=0.0004). In contrast, a higher number of PCs were found in patients (n=3) who did not respond to splenectomy and subsequently underwent bortezomib treatment and recovered their renal function (P=0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Splenectomy may reverse AMR by debulking PCs. Our analysis suggests that patients with a very high load of PCs may not be rescued by splenectomy alone and may need additional treatments.
Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Ivo
I
Tzvetanov
Mario
M
Spaggiari
Jose
J
Oberholzer
Suman
S
Setty
Amanda
A
Stephenson
James
J
Thielke
Patricia
P
West-Thielke
Hoonbae
H
Jeon
Kirstie K
KK
Danielson
Bruce
B
Kaplan
Enrico
E
Benedetti
D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology*; D013156:Splenectomy / Q000379:methods; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D014019:Tissue Donors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement
D000906:Antibodies