Impact of adjuvant immunotherapy using liver allograft-derived lymphocytes on bacteremia in living-donor liver transplantation.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Bacteremia is one of the leading causes of mortality in living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) recipients. Lymphocytes, including natural killer cells, are believed to play a role in the first line of defense against invading infectious microbes.

METHODS:

From January 2004 to December 2009, 114 consecutive LDLT recipients were studied for postoperative bacteremia. The impact of adjuvant immunotherapy using activated liver allograft-derived lymphocytes on bacteremia was retrospectively evaluated by a one-to-one match using propensity score to overcome bias due to the different distribution of covariates for the two groups.

RESULTS:

After one-to-one matching, 21 patients who did not receive adjuvant immunotherapy and 21 who did not receive adjuvant immunotherapy had the same preoperative and operative characteristics. Six (28.6%) of the 21 patients who did not receive adjuvant immunotherapy had bacteremia, whereas only one (4.8%) of the 21 patients who received adjuvant immunotherapy had bacteremia; thus, the incidence of bacteremia in patients who had received adjuvant immunotherapy was significantly lower than that in patients who had not received adjuvant immunotherapy (P=0.038).

CONCLUSIONS:

Adjuvant immunotherapy using liver allograft-derived lymphocytes may be a promising modality for reducing the postoperative bacteremia after LDLT.

• Authors: Hirotaka Tashiro, Kohei Ishiyama, Masahiro Ohira, Yuka Igarashi, Hiroyuki Tahara, Kentaro Ide, Takashi Onoe, Yuka Tanaka, Hideki Ohdan
• Journal: Transplantation (Transplantation) Vol. 92 Issue 5 Pg. 575-80 (Sep 15 2011) ISSN: 1534-6080 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21822169 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Bacteremia (etiology, prevention & control)
• Female
• Humans
• Immunotherapy (methods)
• Killer Cells, Natural (immunology, transplantation)
• Liver (cytology, immunology)
• Liver Transplantation (adverse effects, immunology)
• Living Donors
• Lymphocyte Activation
• Lymphocyte Transfusion
• Male
• Matched-Pair Analysis
• Middle Aged
• Natural Killer T-Cells (immunology, transplantation)
• Retrospective Studies
• Transplantation, Homologous
• Young Adult