Kidneys infected with hepatitis C can be safely transplanted into
healthy recipients

Date:
September 2, 2020
Source:
Massachusetts General Hospital
Summary:
Kidneys from deceased donors with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection
can be safely transplanted into noninfected recipients when a
regimen of direct-acting antiviral therapies is initiated as early
as two days after the transplant, according to a new study.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Kidneys from deceased donors with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection
can be safely transplanted into noninfected recipients when a regimen
of direct-acting antiviral therapies is initiated as early as two days
after the transplant, according to a study from Massachusetts General
Hospital (MGH). In a multi- center clinical trial reported in the Journal
of the American Society of Nephrology, MGH researchers found that each
of 30 kidney recipients were cured of HCV with no serious side effects attributable to the antiviral therapy, and that nearly all maintained
excellent allograft function at six months.


==========================================================================
"We successfully treated the hepatitis C virus in kidneys transplanted
from HCV-positive donors by using the antiviral agents glecaprevir and pibrentasvir as part of an eight-week course of daily dosing," says Meghan Sise, MD, investigator in the Division of Nephrology at MGH and co-first
author of the study. "These findings could carry a strong message to
the many transplant centers that are still wary about or resistant to
using kidneys from HCV- infected donors. We've shown that these so-called
donor positive to recipient negative transplants can be done safely and effectively through early antiviral intervention." Nearly 95,000 people
in the U.S. are currently waiting for kidney transplant, most suffering progressive health deterioration. For some groups, including patients
over 60, death is a greater certainty than a transplant. Given this
significant public health problem, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services set a goal of doubling the number of kidneys available
for transplantation by 2030 as part of the Advancing American Kidney
Health Initiative. One promising pathway toward that target is reducing
the discard of viable human kidneys that now occurs, particularly from
deceased individuals with hepatitis C virus infection. The number of
those organs has soared over the past five years as a result of mounting
deaths from the national opioid epidemic.

The MGH prospective trial is the first multi-center investigation to show
the feasibility of donor positive to donor negative transplantation. Known
as MYTHIC (Multi-Center Study to Transplant Hepatitis-C Infected
Kidneys), the study was conceived and carried out in collaboration with
the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Each
of the trial's 30 kidney recipients at seven U.S. transplant centers
was given an eight-week course of a coformulation of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir, powerful antiviral agents that target two distinct proteins within the virus that are essential to its survival.

While one patient died of complications of sepsis deemed unrelated to
trial participation, no severe side effects or liver disease were observed
in any patient, and allograft function at six months was excellent. "Many
of the patients showed a tiny amount of virus in their blood right after transplant, but that viral load became undetectable or unquantifiable in
all recipients of HCV-viremic kidneys by four weeks of treatment, " notes Raymond Chung, MD, investigator in the Liver Center and Gastrointestinal Division at MGH and co- senior author of the study.

The trial's success extends to the development by the research team of an evidence-based clinical protocol for transplanting hepatitis C-infected
kidneys that could be used by transplant centers anywhere. "We sought to replace the many homegrown protocols based on varying treatment regimens
with one that is sound, uniform and reproducible," explains Chung. "We
believe we have succeeded by creating a very simple approach that works
in patients." Researchers are now hopeful that transplant centers will
take notice of these encouraging results and the opportunity they afford
to increase access to high quality organs by patients in critical need of
a kidney transplant. "By showing that these procedures are effective,"
says Sise, "we're hoping that insurance companies will also see the
enormous benefit of making transplants with hepatitis-C infected kidneys uniformly covered and reimbursable. The ultimate goal of everyone should
be to increase the quality and quantity of life for patients waiting
for a kidney transplant." Sise is also a nephrologist and assistant
professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Chung is director of Hepatology and the Liver Center at MGH.

The study team also included MGH authors Winfred Williams, MD, Nahel
Elias, MD, Jenna Gustafson, MS, and co-lead author David Goldberg,
MD and, from University of Pennsylvania, co-senior author Peter Reese, MD.

The study was supported by the biopharmaceutical company AbbVie.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Massachusetts_General_Hospital. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Meghan E. Sise, David S. Goldberg, Jens J. Kort, Douglas
E. Schaubel,
Rita R. Alloway, Christine M. Durand, Robert J. Fontana, Robert
S. Brown, John J. Friedewald, Stacey Prenner, J. Richard Landis,
Melissa Fernando, Caitlin C. Phillips, E. Steve Woodle, Adele
Rike-Shields, Kenneth E.

Sherman, Nahel Elias, Winfred W. Williams, Jenna L. Gustafson,
Niraj M.

Desai, Brittany Barnaba, Silas P. Norman, Mona Doshi, Samuel
T. Sultan, Meredith J. Aull, Josh Levitsky, Dianne S. Belshe,
Raymond T. Chung, Peter P. Reese. Multicenter Study to Transplant
Hepatitis C-Infected Kidneys (MYTHIC): An Open-Label Study of
Combined Glecaprevir and Pibrentasvir to Treat Recipients of
Transplanted Kidneys from Deceased Donors with Hepatitis C Virus
Infection. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2020;
ASN.2020050686 DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2020050686 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200902101820.htm

--- up 1 week, 2 days, 6 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)