Previous reports of
renal transplantation for patients with underlying
immunoglobulin A (
IgA) nephropathy suggested a recurrence rate greater than 50% for transplant
IgA nephropathy. Initially regarded as a benign condition, more recent data showed that recurrent transplant
IgA nephropathy may be a significant contributor to graft loss. We performed a retrospective analysis in a single center of 48 kidney transplant recipients, all of Chinese origin, with biopsy-proven
IgA nephropathy as the cause of
end-stage renal failure to determine the recurrence rate of
IgA nephropathy in the transplant allograft and subsequent
clinical course in Chinese patients. Median duration of follow-up was 52 months (range, 18 to 155 months). Fourteen patients (29%) had biopsy-confirmed recurrent transplant
IgA nephropathy after a median of 52 months (interquartile range, 23 to 82 months) posttransplantation. Recurrent transplant
IgA nephropathy was associated with greater serum
IgA levels (P = 0.01). The presence of
HLA-A2 in transplant recipients (P = 0.002) appeared to protect them from developing recurrent
IgA nephropathy in the transplant allograft. Twenty-nine percent of patients with recurrent transplant
IgA nephropathy had progressive deterioration of graft function. The progressive graft dysfunction (GD) rate was greater in patients with a transplant from a living related donor (LRD; 21%) compared with those with a transplant from a cadaveric or living unrelated donor (URD; 3%; P = 0.062). Although the cumulative graft survival rate was 100% at 5 years for transplants from both LRDs and URDs, the 10-year graft survival rate was only 63% for a graft from an LRD versus 93% for a URD (log-rank test, P = 0.19). A review of other reported series of recurrent transplant
IgA nephropathy also showed an apparently greater incidence of GD for a graft from an LRD (28%) compared with a URD (15%). Our data suggest that although recurrent transplant
IgA nephropathy is highly prevalent among the Chinese population, the risk for disease recurrence is not particularly increased compared with other ethnic groups. The trend toward a greater risk for GD for living related compared with unrelated allografts in patients with
IgA nephropathy needs to be confirmed with further prospective study.