Clinical Significance of C3d Assay in Kidney Transplant Recipients With Donor-Specific Anti-Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibodies

Abstract

Background: Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a major cause of allograft loss in kidney transplant. Although donor-specific anti–human leukocyte antigen antibody (DSA) is a key cause of AMR, not all patients with DSA are diagnosed as having AMR and show poor allograft outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate clinical significance of C3d-binding activity in patients with DSA identified by single-antigen bead (SAB) assay.

Methods: A total of 168 recipients screened for DSA from 2015 to 2018 were enrolled. Among them, 52 patients had DSA confirmed by SAB assay. Sera were tested using the C3d assay on Luminex platform. AMR was defined by kidney allograft biopsy results using Banff 2015 criteria.

Results: Of 52 patients, C3d-binding DSAs were detected in 22 patients (42.3%). Indication allograft biopsy was performed in 35 patients, with 31 (88.6%) diagnosed as having AMR. Patients with C3d-binding DSA had more class II SAB-DSA (73.3% vs 100%, P = .015) and showed significantly higher mean (SD) fluorescence intensity of class II SAB-DSA than the C3d-binding DSA(−) group (9606.7 [6096.6] vs 1921.0 [1483.8], P < .001). There was a positive correlation in the highest mean fluorescence intensity between class II SAB-DSA and class II C3d-binding DSA ( r = 0.70, P < .001). Patients with C3d-binding DSA showed worse death-censored graft survival than those with non-C3d-binding DSA ( P = .023).

Conclusions: This study showed that presence of C3d-binding DSA was significantly associated with allograft loss in SAB-DSA–positive patients. Further trials are warranted.