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Updated: May 27, 2026

Investigating the Immunological Mechanisms Underlying Organ Transplant Rejection
Published on: August 20, 2007
Emerging drugs for the treatment of transplant rejection
Lars P Kihm1, Martin Zeier, Christian Morath
1University of Heidelberg, Department of Nephrology, Germany. lars.kihm@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Introduction:
Kidney allograft rejection is an important cause of early and late allograft failure. The importance of antibody-mediated rejection especially in the context of late allograft failure has only recently been acknowledged.
Areas Covered:
This review summarizes new developments in the treatment of cellular and antibody-mediated kidney allograft rejection. Drugs presented here include monoclonal antibodies and novel innovative approaches such as proteasome and complement inhibition. In addition, other options for the treatment of allograft rejection such as the administration of intravenous immune globulins or the use of plasmapheresis and immunoadsorption are discussed.
Expert Opinion:
Especially the treatment of chronic antibody-mediated rejection represents a challenge and new therapeutic options are needed.
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