Lymphocyte Activation Markers in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Recipients.
OBJECTIVE
The role of CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) in immune tolerance in experimental transplantation is very important but the clinical significance of circulating Tregs in the peripheral blood is undetermined. We evaluated the association between the frequency of T cell activation markers CD25 and CD71 and clinical parameters that may affect the level of these T cell markers.


METHODS
In 47peditric kidney transplant (KT) recipients and 20 healthy controls, the frequency of T cell activation markers, CD25 and CD71 was measured with flow cytometry after transplantation. Two clinical protocols of induction immunosuppression were used: (1) anti-thymocyte globulin (THYMO) group (n =29) and Basiliximab (BSX) group (n=10).


RESULTS
The percentage of circulating CD25 after KT was significantly lower than that in the controls. There is no significant difference between KT and the controls s regard to circulating CD71. The percentage of CD25 was significantly increased in children with acute rejection compared with those without acute rejection. Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) decreased the frequency of CD25 but mammalian target rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor did not. The proportion of CD25 significantly decreased in THYMO group during the first year after transplantation.


CONCLUSIONS
The frequency of circulating T cell activation marker CD25 in pediatric KT recipients is strongly affected by CNIs, and a high frequency of CD25 is associated with acute rejection during the early posttransplant period. The measurement of T cell activation markers, may become a useful immune monitoring tool after kidney transplantation.
Department of Pediatric, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt;
Fatina I
FI
Fadel
Department of Clinical & Chemical Pathology, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt;
Eman A
EA
Elghoroury
Department of Pediatric, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt;
Manal F
MF
Elshamaa
Department of Pediatric, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt;
Hafez M
HM
Bazaraa
Department of Pediatric, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt;
Doaa M
DM
Salah
Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt;
Neemat M A
NM
Kassem
Department of Clinical & Chemical Pathology, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt;
Mona H
MH
Ibrahim
Department of Medical Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
Gamila S
GS
El-Saaid
Department of Clinical & Chemical Pathology, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt;
Soha A
SA
Nasr
Department of Pediatric, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt;
Hala M
HM
Koura
CD25; CD71; Children; Graft Rejection; Kidney Transplantation; Regulatory; T-lymphocytes