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JUST RELEASED - TRANSPLANTATION DIRECT - FEBRUARY ISSUE

The February issue of Transplantation Direct is out! Many topics are covered in this issue, starting with kidney transplantation reporting on gene-based guidance for personalized immunosuppression (precision therapy), defining safe levels of anti-A2 titers in A2 incompatible transplants, the impact of subclinical borderline inflammation on long-term outcomes, use of donor cf-DNA to detect rejection in recipients being treated with check-point inhibitors (posttransplant malignancy), and assessment of a Spanish-language “fear of kidney failure questionnaire"; we also have an experimental (pig) study testing use of short oxygenated hypothermic machine perfusion before normothermic perfusion in injured kidneys, and a study on effects of residual kidney function on outcomes in kidney transplants combined with either liver or heart transplantation. In liver transplantation, there are reports on using transplantation in cases of locally advanced undifferentiated embryonal cell sarcoma, managing pain using thoracic epidural analgesia, using the splenic artery transposition technique, and comparing waitlist mortality predictability using “liver frailty index" vs. “Karnofsky performance status"; there are also case study reports on the topics of protein-losing enteropathy and on liver transplant “only" decisions in patients with liver failure and heart disease. Regarding other transplants, we have articles on peri-operative desensitization strategies in heart transplantation, and an experimental study in non-human primates on the influence of vascularized bone marrow transplants with vascularized composite allografts; finally, a comprehensive review on lung ischemia reperfusion injury mechanisms, including current and future treatment options. For further details, accessible by open-access, please visit our Transplantation Directwebsite.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS ISSUE (Open Access)

TRANSPLANTATION - WEEK'S MOST DOWNLOADED PAPER

#TBT to this week's featured top downloaded paper from 2017-18: Incidence of Posttransplantation Diabetes Mellitus in De Novo Kidney Transplant Recipients Receiving Prolonged-Release Tacrolimus-Based Immunosuppression... bit.ly/39LSGmG

Last Chance - 2021 TTS Needs Assessment Survey
Be Part of TTS’ Future!

We are asking our members to help us understand how TTS can better serve you!
Take the TTS 2021 Needs Assessment Survey.
Results of the survey will directly impact TTS activities!

Participate by: February 15, 2021

Click here to take the survey

«HOT OFF THE PRESS»
RECENT PUBLICATIONS IDENTIFIED BY TTS EDUCATION COMMITTEE ON COVID-19

Selected Publications by TTS Education Committee. This week's selection made by Enver Akalin.

Decline and loss of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in kidney transplant recipients in the 6 months following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Chavarot N et al.
Kidney Int. 2021 Feb;99(2):486-488

In this study the authors assessed the anti–SARS-CoV2-IgG trajectory over a period of 6 months after disease onset in kidney transplant recipients. COVID-19 occurred at a median time of 6.3 years (IQR: 3.1–12.7) after transplantation in 42 patients. 32 patients (76.2%) required hospitalization, including 7 (21.9%) in an intensive care unit (ICU), none of whom died. Of the 42 patients, 30 (71.4%) were seropositive (IgG> 1.4) at month 2. Among the 21 of 33 patients (63.6%) who were IgG-positive at month 2 and who had available sera at month 6, 12 (57.1%) remained positive. IgG index decreased between months 2 and 6 in all patients including in patients requiring hospitalization or ICU stay. In summary, antibody levels rapidly decrease in all patients and more than 60% had negative or equivocal IgG results at month 6.
Read more

Prothrombotic autoantibodies in serum from patients hospitalized with COVID-19

Yu Zuo et al.
Sci. Transl. , Med. 12,

This study measured eight types of phospholipid-binding proteins (aPL antibodies) in serum samples from 172 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. These aPL antibodies included anticardiolipin IgG, IgM, and IgA; anti–β2 glycoprotein I IgG, IgM, and IgA; and anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin (aPS/PT) IgG and IgM. The authors detected aPS/PT IgG in 24% of serum samples, anticardiolipin IgM in 23% of samples, and aPS/PT IgM in 18% of samples. Antiphospholipid autoantibodies were present in 52% of serum samples using the manufacturer’s threshold and in 30% using a more stringent cutoff. Higher titers of aPL antibodies were associated with neutrophil hyperactivity, including the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), higher platelet counts, more severe respiratory disease, and lower clinical estimated glomerular filtration rate. Similar to IgG from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, IgG fractions isolated from patients with COVID-19 promoted NET release from neutrophils isolated from healthy individuals. Furthermore, injection of IgG purified from COVID-19 patient serum into mice accelerated venous thrombosis in two mouse models. These findings suggest that half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 become at least transiently positive for aPL antibodies and that these autoantibodies are potentially pathogenic.
Read more

Integrated immune dynamics define correlates of COVID-19 severity and antibody responses

Marios Koutsakos et al.
Cell reports medicine https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100208

This study analyzed 85 SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals at acute and/or convalescent timepoints, up to 102 days post-symptom onset, quantifying 184 immunological parameters. Acute COVID-19 presented with high levels of IL-6, IL-18 and IL-10 and broad activation marked by upregulation of CD38 on innate and adaptive lymphocytes and myeloid cells. Importantly, activated CXCR3+cTFH1 cells in acute COVID-19 significantly correlate with and predict antibody levels and their avidity at convalescence as well as acute neutralization activity. Strikingly, intensive care unit patients with severe COVID-19 display higher levels of soluble IL-6, IL-6R, IL-18, and hyperactivation of innate, adaptive and myeloid compartments than patients with moderate disease. This study provides a comprehensive map of longitudinal immunological responses in COVID-19 patients and integrate key cellular pathways of complex immune networks underpinning severe COVID-19, providing important insights into potential biomarkers and immunotherapies.
Read more

TTS-ILTS Paired Transplant Centers Program
Application Deadline Extended to February 24th, 2021

The TTS-ILTS Paired Transplant Centers Program is a collaboration between The Transplantation Society (TTS) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) supporting new liver transplant programs in emerging economies.
Click here for details and application form

Upcoming Webinars

ISN-TTS WEBINAR: RISKS VS. GAINS - KIDNEY FUNCTION

Friday, February 26, 2020 - 3:00 PM CET / 9:00 AM EST (Montreal time)

CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP

Women in Transplantation in Asia • Webinar Series

Update: Signup Required (Free)

Dear Women in Transplantation and TTS members,

The Asian Society of Transplantation (AST - myasot.org) in collaboration with the TTS Women in Transplantation (WIT) initiative are hosting two webinars on Gender Disparity in Transplant in Asia.

Thursday February 25th 2021 (19:00 Seoul / Tokyo time - GMT+9)

Click here for more information

New Two-Year WIT Fellowship Grant Program

Women in Transplantation (WIT) initiative of The Transplantation Society will provide funding to an Early Career Researcher to support research focusing on sex and gender issues relevant to solid organ transplantation.

Letter of intent is due on March 1, 2021

The spectrum of studies includes basic, clinical and translational. This individual should have spent two years or less performing research relevant to solid organ transplantation since obtaining their last degree (PhD, MD, MSc, PharmD, or equivalent). This work may represent a continuation of current research or a novel aspect of work. The mentor should have expertise in transplantation or immunology but need not be an investigator with known expertise in gender or sex.

Click here to read the statement

This initiative was made possible with support with One Lambda, a Thermo Fisher Scientific brand, and Sanofi, with each supporting one award.

IN THE NEWS

NYU Langone Health Performs World’s First Successful Face & Double Hand Transplant

After receiving a face and double hand transplant—the first successful case of its kind in the world—Joe DiMeo is working hard to get back to the activities of everyday life he enjoyed before his accident. PHOTO: NYU LANGONE STAFF

Feb. 3 - A surgical team from NYU Langone Health performed a face and double hand transplant for a 22-year-old New Jersey resident severely burned in a horrific car crash. The surgery included transplanting both hands and the full face of a single donor. It marked the first successful combination transplant case of its kind in the world.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Economists Find a ‘Stark Trade-Off’ in Kidney Transplantation

Feb. 2 - Prioritize people who need the organs urgently—or those who will live longest because of them?

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Racial disparities: Young, Black adults had significantly worse heart transplant outcomes

Feb. 2 - Young, Black adults are more than twice as likely to die in the first year after a heart transplant when compared to same-age, non-Black heart transplant recipients, according to new research published today in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

ISODP invites you to Las Vegas this November!

Abstract submission is now open, deadline to submit is May 17, 2021.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

39th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZASM 2021)

March 14-16, 2021 • Virtual

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

International Symposium on Benign and Malignant Tumors in Liver With or Without Cirrhosis

June 24-25, 2021 • Kızılcahamam-Turkey
SAVE THE DATE!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

17th Congress of the Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplant Association (CIRTA 2021)

June 30 - July 2, 2021 • Auckland, New Zealand

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

The 17th Congress of The Asian Society of Transplantation (CAST 2021)

July 25-28, 2021 • Virtual

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

17th Congress of the Middle East Society For Organ Transplantation (MESOT 2021)

September 3-5, 2021 • AMMAN-JORDAN
SAVE THE DATE!

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