Influence of immunosuppressive drugs on the CD30 molecule in kidney transplanted patients

Soluble CD30 (sCD30) is a suggested marker for kidney transplantation outcomes. We investigated whether sCD30 serum levels are influenced by immunosuppression and whether they correlate with findings in protocol biopsies and with CD30 gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).

We studied 118 kidney transplant recipients that initially received tacrolimus (TAC) and, at month-3, were converted or not to sirolimus (SRL).

sCD30 serum levels gradually declined after transplantation, being the decline more pronounced in the SRL group. CD30 gene expression in PBMC was higher in the SRL group than in the TAC group. Patients with IF/TA ≥ I in the month-24 protocol biopsy had higher sCD30 levels than patients without IF/TA, in the SRL group (P = .03) and in the TAC group (P = .07). CD30⁺ cells were observed in three out of 10 biopsies with inflammatory infiltrate from the SRL group. In mixed lymphocyte cultures, SRL and TAC diminished the number of CD30⁺ T cells and the sCD30 levels in the supernatant, but the effect of SRL was stronger.

Overall, sCD30 levels are lower in SRL-treated patients, but the association between increased sCD30 levels and IF/TA at month-24 post-transplantation is stronger in SRL than in TAC-treated patients.