De Novo Donor-specific HLA Antibodies Reduce Graft Survival and Increase Risk of Kidney Transplant Rejection: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Abstract Background: This study investigated the impact of posttransplantation de novo donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies (dnDSAs) on long-term death-censored graft survival and renal allograft rejection.Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 121 patients who received kidney transplants from deceased donors with negative complement-dependent cytotoxicity crossmatch. Based on the presence of dnDSAs, recipients were divided into dnDSA+ (n=31) and dnDSA− (n=90) groups. We evaluated the occurrence of rejection and long-term graft survival in the recipients along with pathologic changes in transplanted kidneys.Results: DnDSAs were identified in 31/121 (25.6%) patients, who had lower graft survival rates than patients without dnDSAs (P=0.007). There was no difference in graft survival rate between patients with high (≥4000) and low (<4000) DSA mean fluorescence intensity (P=0.669). The presence of dnDSA in serum was associated with a higher incidence of antigen- and T-cell–mediated rejection (P<0.0001). DnDSA+ and dnDSA− groups differed in terms of Banff score for arterial fibrointimal and arteriolar hyaline thickening (P<0.05).Conclusion: DnDSAs are associated with decreased long-term graft survival and increased rate of rejection, which is often accompanied by microcirculatory inflammation and positive C4d staining.