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Blood Test for Rejection Infection Risk after Transplant
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6 years 9 months ago - 6 years 9 months ago #106
by Sarah
Blood Test for Rejection Infection Risk after Transplant was created by Sarah
Interesting news from the LTU as reported in the Herald Sun...July 14th 2017
A SIMPLE blood test that detects which patients are at risk of rejection and infection as early as one week after a liver transplant looks set to change treatment for 70 per cent of patients.
Austin Health’s Liver Transplant Unit has trialled the use of a Melbourne-designed blood test, to see if it can give an objective measure of “net immunity” — the holy grail for the management of organ recipients.
Austin consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist Dr Adam Testro said every organ donor recipient needed lifelong immunosuppression to stop their body rejecting the donor organ, but there was no way to offer tailored dosing.
About 70 per cent of recipients receive too much or too little immunosuppression, leaving those whose immune systems are under-suppressed vulnerable to rejection, or graft dysfunction.
Patients whose immune systems are over-suppressed are at greater risk of infection, medication side-effects and an increased risk of some cancers. “Most people are out of hospital a month after liver transplant. If we can pick a patient in week one who is over or under-suppressed, we can change their treatment early,” Dr Testro said. “The test we have now is a one-sized shoe. Occasionally it’s a perfect fit, but usually it’s not.”
The Austin Health team used the QuantiFERON Monitor test in 75 adult transplant recipients to measure levels of the hormone interferon in the patient’s blood following an immune response.
Patients with a very robust immune system were most likely to experience rejection of the donor organ, while those with little immunity were protected from rejection but at high risk of life-threatening infection.
Dr Testro said the findings, published in the journal Liver Transplantation, could be applied to other organ transplants and conditions involving immunosuppression, such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. “I think the true benefit will come years down the track to the patient and health economy,” Dr Testro said.
“If patients are on less drugs upfront, they’re less likely to get those long-term medication side-effects, such as renal dysfunction, diabetes, high blood pressure and skin cancers.”
They are now trialling the blood test in a prospective study to see if it can successfully alter a patient’s treatment and produce better clinical outcomes compared with the standard treatment.
www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/blood...f2d01f022558707361e1
A SIMPLE blood test that detects which patients are at risk of rejection and infection as early as one week after a liver transplant looks set to change treatment for 70 per cent of patients.
Austin Health’s Liver Transplant Unit has trialled the use of a Melbourne-designed blood test, to see if it can give an objective measure of “net immunity” — the holy grail for the management of organ recipients.
Austin consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist Dr Adam Testro said every organ donor recipient needed lifelong immunosuppression to stop their body rejecting the donor organ, but there was no way to offer tailored dosing.
About 70 per cent of recipients receive too much or too little immunosuppression, leaving those whose immune systems are under-suppressed vulnerable to rejection, or graft dysfunction.
Patients whose immune systems are over-suppressed are at greater risk of infection, medication side-effects and an increased risk of some cancers. “Most people are out of hospital a month after liver transplant. If we can pick a patient in week one who is over or under-suppressed, we can change their treatment early,” Dr Testro said. “The test we have now is a one-sized shoe. Occasionally it’s a perfect fit, but usually it’s not.”
The Austin Health team used the QuantiFERON Monitor test in 75 adult transplant recipients to measure levels of the hormone interferon in the patient’s blood following an immune response.
Patients with a very robust immune system were most likely to experience rejection of the donor organ, while those with little immunity were protected from rejection but at high risk of life-threatening infection.
Dr Testro said the findings, published in the journal Liver Transplantation, could be applied to other organ transplants and conditions involving immunosuppression, such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. “I think the true benefit will come years down the track to the patient and health economy,” Dr Testro said.
“If patients are on less drugs upfront, they’re less likely to get those long-term medication side-effects, such as renal dysfunction, diabetes, high blood pressure and skin cancers.”
They are now trialling the blood test in a prospective study to see if it can successfully alter a patient’s treatment and produce better clinical outcomes compared with the standard treatment.
www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/blood...f2d01f022558707361e1
Last edit: 6 years 9 months ago by Sarah.
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