The Use of Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants in Post-Kidney Transplantation, Single-Center Experience

BACKGROUND

Novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are widely used alternatives to warfarin, because they do not require routine monitoring and have better safety profile. There is limited experience for NOACs in organ transplant recipients.

METHODS

This study assessed NOAC safety and efficacy among renal transplant recipients in a single center. A retrospective matched cohort study was conducted among the adult renal transplant recipients concomitantly administered calcineurin inhibitors (tacrolimus or cyclosporin) and NOACs between November 2015 and December 2019.

RESULTS

The study included 16 patients divided into 2 equal groups on NOACs and warfarin. Male patients constitute 50% and 75% of the NOAC group and warfarin group, respectively, and 75% and 87.5% of cases are post living donor transplants in the NOAC group and warfarin group, respectively. In the NOAC group, the most common indication for anticoagulation was atrial fibrillation (62.5%), followed by deep vein thrombosis (37.5%), whereas in the warfarin group, the most common indication was atrial fibrillation (50%), followed by valve replacement (25%). In the NOAC group, 6 patients (75%) received rivaroxaban, 1 patient (12.5%) received dabigatran, and 1 patient (12.5%) received apixaban; 68.75% of patients were on a tacrolimus-based regimen. There were no thromboembolic events, rejection episodes, bleeding, or admissions due to NOAC adverse events. There were 3 cases of bleeding in the warfarin group. Calcineurin inhibitor levels and estimated glomerular filtration rate did not change significantly in the NOAC group (P = .34 and .96, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to warfarin, NOACs are well tolerated and effective for preventing and treating thromboembolic events in renal transplant recipients. A larger randomized controlled study is required.

Anti-PLA2R and anti-THSD7A as Diagnostic Serological Markers of Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy: A Single Centre Study

Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy (IMN) is a renal-limited autoimmune disease and accounts for approximately 80% of MNs. This study aimed to evaluate the role of circulating Anti-PLA2R and anti-THSD7A autoantibodies in the diagnosis and differentiation between primary and secondary MN. This study was conducted on 58 adult patients with biopsy-proven membranous glomerulopathy (MGN). All were subjected to measurement of Anti-PLA2R1 by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and anti-THSD7A was detected by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Among the 58 patients, 79.3% were diagnosed as IMN, and 20.7% as secondary membranous glomerulopathy (SMN). Among IMN patients, 32 patients (69.6%) showed positive anti-PLA2R1 antibodies, 2 patients (4.3%) were positive for anti-THSD7A antibodies and the remaining 12 patients (26.1%) were negative for both types of antibodies. Patients with SMN were negative for the two antibodies. The IMN patients had lower serum creatinine compared to the SMN patients (P=0.017). In conclusion, the study demonstrates that approximately 70% of patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy have antibodies against PLA2R indicating that Anti-PLA2R may be fast, easy, relatively sensitive, and non-invasive test for diagnosis of IMN..

Toll Like Receptor-4 Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) affects human life globally for a long time. The difference in clinical outcome of infection suggests that host genetic makeup is responsible for such variability. Toll like receptors (TLRs) are pattern recognition receptors and have a significant role in mycobacterial recognition by the innate immune system. TLR-4 is the key receptor in initiation of innate immunity against M. tuberculosis. This study investigated whether variants in TLR-4 896A/G (Asp299Gly) and TLR-4 1196C/T (Thr399Ile) genes are related with susceptibility or resistance to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in Saudi population. Genotyping of TLR-4 896A/G, TLR-4 1196C/T gene was performed by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR -RFLP) in 60 PTB patients and 60 control subjects. The A allele at (896A/G) was more frequent in the control group while G allele was more common in PTB patients. The frequency of T allele of (1196C/T) polymorphism was significantly increased in PTB patients as compared to the control group (P < 0.001; Odds ratio (OR) 2.79, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 1.65-4.72). A trend toward increased frequency of TT and CT genotypes of TLR4 at (1196C/T) were also observed in PTB patients as compared to control group (48.3% vs. 26, 7%, and 21.7% vs. 15%), respectively. This study suggests that that TLR4 polymorphism especially TLR4 rs4986791 may be associated with increase susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis, and C allele of rs4986791 is a promising protective factor for tuberculosis susceptibility in Saudi population.

Transfusion-transmitted virus infection in hemodialysis patients in Arar, Saudi Arabia: Prevalence, predictors and genotyping

Transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) is a single-stranded DNA virus that was identified in patients with post-transfusion hepatitis of non-A-to-G type. Patients with chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) have a higher risk of viral infections, and the prevalence of TTV infection is common. The aim of our study was to detect TTV-DNA and its genotype in HD patients. A case-control study compromising of 63 patients on maintenance HD therapy at the Nephrology Center of Central Arar Hospital and 100 healthy individuals who were tested for TTVDNA and its genotype by semi nested-polymerase chain reaction with primers derived from the conserved open reading frame 1 (ORF1) region followed by digestion with NdeI and PstI restriction enzyme. The results show that the prevalence of TTV in HD patients was high and statistically significant; 42.9% compared with 19% in the control group. History of blood transfusion was the only significant predictor, and we found that age of patients, duration of HD, hepatitis B and C infection, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were not significant predictors of TT virus positivity in HD patients. TTV genotype 1 (G1) was found to be the most common genotype among both HD and healthy controls. The prevalence of TTV among HD patients was significantly higher than that in healthy individuals. History of blood transfusion was the only significant predictor of TTV positivity among them. Genotype 1 was the most predominant type among HD and healthy individuals. Further studies on TTV in peritoneal dialysis patients and transplant patients are needed.