In this retrospective study, we analyzed the presence of any association of three CD4(+) CD25(high) regulatory T-cell subpopulations at 3 weeks after lung transplantation with the later incidence of chronic lung allograft dysfunction and graft survival. Among lung-transplanted patients between January 2009 and April 2018, only patients with sufficient T-cell measurements at 3 weeks after transplantation were included into the study. Putative regulatory T cells were defined as CD4(+) CD25(high) T cells, detected in peripheral blood and further analyzed for CD127(low) , FoxP3(+) , and CD152(+) using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. Associations of regulatory T cells with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and graft survival were evaluated using Cox analysis. During the study period, 724 (71%) patients were included into the study. Freedom from chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and graft survival amounted to 66% and 68% at 5 years. At the multivariable analysis, increasing frequencies of CD127(low) were associated with better freedom from CLAD (hazard ratio for each 1% increase of %CD127(low) , HR = 0.989, 95% CI = 0.981-0.996, P = 0.003) and better graft survival (HR = 0.991, 95% CI = 0.984-0.999, P = 0.026). A higher frequency of CD127(low) regulatory T cells in peripheral blood early after lung transplantation estimated a protective effect against chronic lung allograft dysfunction, mortality, and re-transplantation.
- Ius, F.
- Salman, J.
- Knoefel, A. K.
- Sommer, W.
- Nakagiri, T.
- Verboom, M.
- Siemeni, T.
- Poyanmehr, R.
- Bobylev, D.
- Kuehn, C.
- Avsar, M.
- Erdfelder, C.
- Hallensleben, M.
- Boethig, D.
- Hecker, H.
- Schwerk, N.
- Mueller, C.
- Welte, T.
- Falk, C.
- Preissler, G.
- Haverich, A.
- Tudorache, I.
- Warnecke, G.
Keywords
- chronic lung allograft dysfunction and graft survival
- lung transplantation
- regulatory t cell
