Elevated Monocyte Count and Loss of Renal Function in Renal Transplant Patients

Esketamine mitigates systemic inflammation via modulating phenotypic transformation of monocytes in patients undergoing thoracic surgery

AIM

To assess esketamine's anti-inflammatory effects during thoracic surgery and its modulation of immune responses.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In a randomized trial, 64 of 73 patients undergoing thoracic surgery were allocated into the Control (not receiving esketamine) or the ES-KTM group (intraoperative esketamine infusion). Blood routine tests were conducted one day before (T0) and one day after the surgery (T3). Plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukine-10 (IL-10) were analyzed by ELISA, and cell surface markers including CD14, CD16, CD163, CD40, CX3CR1, CD206 were tested by cytometry at the entry to the surgical room (T1) and the skin closure (T2). For the in vitro study, esketamine at 10 μM was employed to treat the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated macrophage cell line-Raw264.7, and its effects were tested by cytometry and RNA sequencing analysis.

KEY FINDINGS

Esketamine application reduces the count of neutrophils and monocytes, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic inflammatory index (SII), and enhances the lymphocyte counting and lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR). Then, esketamine application decreases the plasma TNF-α levels, while maintaining the IL-10 level in comparison with the Control group. Additionally, esketamine reduced the proportion of intermediate monocytes, downregulates the expressions of CD16, CD40 and CX3CR1, while upregulates the CD206 expression. Finally, in the in-vitro study, esketamine inhibits the M1 pro-inflammatory markers in LPS-challenged macrophages, and downregulates multiple immune-related pathways.

SIGNIFICANCE

Esketamine mitigates surgery-triggered inflammation by suppressing monocyte/macrophage proinflammatory activity and TNF-α release, offering dual anesthetic and immunomodulatory benefits.

Conversion from calcineurin inhibitors to belatacept-based immunosuppressive therapy skews terminal proliferation of non-classical monocytes and lowers lymphocyte counts

Belatacept, a modified form of CTLA-Ig that blocks CD28-mediated co-stimulation of T cells, is an immune-suppressant that can be used as an alternative to calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs). In kidney transplant recipients, belatacept has been associated with improved renal function and reduced cardiovascular toxicity. Monocytes as well as T-lymphocytes play causal roles in the pathophysiology of atherosclerotic disease. We hypothesized that the beneficial impact of the use of belatacept over CNIs on cardiovascular risk could be partly explained by the impact of belatacept therapy on these circulating leukocytes. Hence, we phenotyped circulating leukocytes in transplanted patients with a stable renal function that were randomized between either continuation of CNI or conversion to belatacept in two international studies in which we participated. In 41 patients, we found that belatacept-treated patients consistently showed lower numbers of B-lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes as well as CD14-negative monocytes (CD14NM), especially in non-diabetic patients. Our observation that this decrease was associated to plasma concentrations of TNFα is consistent with a model where CD14NM-production of TNFα is diminished by belatacept-treatment, due to effects on the antigen-presenting cell compartment.

The Impact of Hematological Indices on the Occurrence of Delayed Graft Function (DGF) of Transplanted Kidney

BACKGROUND

to analyse the effect of haematological indices on the occurrence of Delayed Graft Function (DGF) in patients undergoing kidney transplantation and on the function of the transplanted kidney on the 7th postoperative day.

METHODS

365 recipients who underwent kidney transplantation from a donor with known brain death between 2010 and 2017 were included in this retrospective study. Information from patient medical records, donor medical records, and donation and transplantation protocols was used for analysis. Statistica 13 was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

In the study group, DGF occurred in 144 recipients (39.45%), and Non-Graft Function (NGF) occurred in 12 recipients (3.29%). Recipients who developed DGF had a significantly higher Neutrophil/Monocyte Ratio (NMR) before renal transplantation (p = 0.048), a lower NMR value on postoperative day 1 (p < 0.001), and a difference between the values on day 1 and before surgery (p < 0.001). In addition, they had a significantly lower Lymphocyte/Monocyte Ratio (LMR) on postoperative day 1 LMR 1 (p < 0.001). It was shown that the value of the indices based on the ROC curve-NMR1 > 29.29, NMR1-0 > 22.71, and LMR1 > 1.74 (respectively: AUC = 0.624; 95% CI 0.566-0.682; and p < 0.001/AUC = 0.622; 95% CI 0.563-0.680; and p < 0.001/AUC = 0.610; 95% CI 0.550-0.670; and p < 0.001)-can be used to identify recipients with a significant probability of DGF.

CONCLUSIONS

the NMR and LMR parameters on the first postoperative day and the difference between the NMR values on the first post-transplant day and the first pre-transplant day are predictive factors associated with the risk of DGF.

Trained Innate Immunity in Hematopoietic Stem Cell and Solid Organ Transplantation

Although significant progress has been made to improve short-term survival of transplant patients, long-term acceptance of allografts in solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is still a significant challenge. Current therapeutics for preventing or treating allograft rejection rely on potent immunosuppressive drugs that primarily target T cells of the adaptive immune response. Promising advances in transplant immunology have highlighted the importance of innate immune responses in allograft acceptance and rejection. Recent studies have demonstrated that innate immune cells are capable of mediating memory-like responses during inflammation, a term known as trained innate immunity. In this process, innate immune cells, such as macrophages and monocytes, undergo metabolic and epigenetic changes in response to a primary stimulus with a pathogen or their products that result in faster and more robust responses to a secondary stimulus. There is also some evidence to suggest that innate immune cells or their progenitors may be more anti-inflammatory after initial stimulation with appropriate agents, such as helminth products. Although this phenomenon has primarily been studied in the context of infection, there is emerging evidence to suggest that it could play a vital role in transplantation rejection and tolerance. Mechanisms of training innate immune cells and their progenitors in the bone marrow are therefore attractive targets for mediating long-term solid organ and HSC transplant tolerance. In this review, we highlight the potential role of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms of trained innate immunity in solid organ and HSC transplantation.