In this presentation, given for the ISN-TTS webinar on Antibody-Mediated Rejection after kidney transplantation, I discuss the phenotype of microcirculation inflammation/microvascular rejection/ABMRh in the absence of donor-specific HLA antibodies. Also the potential role of missing self activation of natural killer (NK) cells and non-HLA antibodies.
3. Not considered as sABMR or ABMR in any Banff update
n=3171
Banff’01 Banff’13 Banff’17
DSA+ C4d- MVI+
DSA- C4d- MVI+
DSA+/C4d+ v > 0
ABMR
n=199
sABMR
n=292
ABMR
n=237
No ABMR
n=254
DSA- C4d+ 1st/MVI+
DSA- C4d- MVI+
DSA+ C4d- 1st+
Isolated ptc
Callemeyn, al. Am J Transplant 2021.
ABMR
n=74
sABMR
n=238
No ABMR
n=179
4. N=935
No ABMRh (N=727; 78%)
ABMRh (N=208; 22%)
HLA-DSA positive ABMRh
(N=85; 41%)
HLA-DSA negative ABMRh
N=123 (59%)
We observed a very high percentage
of patients with ABMRh without HLA-DSA
Senev et al. Am J Transplant 2019
.
.
Ba
5. Coemans et al. Transplant Int 2021
Absolute number of cases
B. Histological picture of antibody-mediated rejection
D. Transplant glomerulopathy N = 1000 transplants; 3594 posttransplant biopsies
There is a high number of cases with ABMR histology
without HLA-DSA
6. DSAneg ABMRh differs from DSApos ABMRh
(97% MVI)
HISTOLOGICAL PICTURE
OF ABMR
(Banff criteria 1 and 2)
N=208 patients
HLA-DSA positive
N=85
HLA-DSA negative
N=123
More
graft failure
(33%)
Less
graft failure
(15%)
Time after
transplantation
(< 1y)
Light
microscopic
appearance More
Repeated
(52%)
More
transient
(27% repeat)
More
C4d positivity
(55%)
Less
C4d positivity
(38%)
C4d
p<0.001
p<0.001
p<0.01
First clinical
presentation
Equal
Senev et al. Am J Transplant 2019
8. Outcome of HLA-DSA negative ABMRh is better than in
HLA-DSA positive ABMRh
Bestard & Grinyo, Am J Transplant 2018 Koenig et al Nat Comm 2019
9. ABMRh -> transplant glomerulopathy: one entity!
Logit
(ABMR)
Time post-transplant
First occurrence cg
• Highly significant in entire cohort (HR 1.19, p<0.001)
• And even in the DSA negative group (HR 1.16, p<0.001)
ABMRh/cg
‘Exposure to’ ABMRh
Joint
modeling
Coemans et al. Transplant Int., 2021
10. Association between time-dependent aABMRh, cg and aABMRh/cg and
death-censored graft failure
(N=837 HLA-DSA negative patients; 3140 biopsies)
Coemans et al. Transplant Int., 2021
Parameters in the survival sub-modela
# phenotype
occurrences
HR (95% CI) P-value
aABMRh 205 1.17 (0.97 – 1.43) 0.10
cg 79 1.25 (1.08 – 1.55) 0.004
aABMRh/cg 268 1.32 (1.07 – 1.61) 0.008
11. Halloran et al. Am J Transplant, May 2022
Association between molecular ABMR and death-censored graft failure
is independent of the HLA-DSA status
(N=268)
Callemeyn et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2020
(N=224)
12. Callemeyn et al. Kidney Int 2022
The cellular infiltrates of
kidney transplant rejection
HLA antigen
mismatch
“Missing Self”
13. NK cells are kept in balance by inhibitory and activating receptors
KIR
16. The concept of missing self requires NK cell education
Callemeyn et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2021
17. Missing self, direct NK cell activation and MicroVascular Inflammation
Koenig et al. Nature Commun 2019
A B
C
18. Missing self associates with microvascular inflammation (MVI)
“high” missing self
Callemeyn et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2021
19. Missing self independently increases risk of MVI
Pretransplant HLA-DSA
Callemeyn et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2021 Koenig et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2021
20. Callemeyn et al. JASN 2021
Koenig et al. Nat Commun 2020
102/222 of MVI (46%) not yet explained
15/44 of MVI (34%) not yet explained
Not all MVI is explained by DSA or by missing self
22. Non-HLA Ab detection immunoassay (NHADIA)
to detect non-HLA DSA
Lamarthée et al JASN 2021
23. MICA is confirmed as minor histocompatilibty antigen
in kidney transplantation leading to anti-MICA DSA and microvascular rejection
Carapito et al Nat Med 2022
24. N=935
No ABMRh (N=727; 78%)
ABMRh (N=208; 22%)
HLA-DSA positive ABMRh
(N=85; 41%)
HLA-DSA negative ABMRh
N=123 (59%)
CONCLUSION:
DSA-negative Microvascular Rejection is common
and further research is needed
Senev et al. Am J Transplant 2019
25. Not considered as sABMR or ABMR in any Banff update
n=3171
Banff’01 Banff’13 Banff’17
DSA+ C4d- MVI+
DSA- C4d- MVI+
DSA+/C4d+ v > 0
ABMR
n=199
sABMR
n=292
ABMR
n=74
sABMR
n=238
No ABMR
n=179
ABMR
n=237
No ABMR
n=254
DSA- C4d+ 1st/MVI+
DSA- C4d- MVI+
DSA+ C4d- 1st+
Isolated ptc
Callemeyn, al. Am J Transplant 2021.
ABMR (HLA-DSApos)
MVR (HLA-DSAneg)
(MVI based on
restricted definition)
No ABMR (DSA+)
New proposal
Theoretically, a similar situation can arise in organ transplantation. If the organ that is transplanted has a different MHC class I repertoire than the recipient. This could lead to disinhibition of the NK cells, which get activated and degranulate cytotoxic molecules ultimately killing the target donor cells, thus damaging the transplanted organ.