Fewer complications after organ transplantation
New cell therapy prevents immunosuppression-related side effects

Date:
June 10, 2020
Source:
Charite' - Universita"tsmedizin Berlin
Summary:
A large international study has demonstrated the safety
of new cell therapy approaches for use in kidney transplant
recipients. Transplant recipients were shown to require lower levels
of immunosuppression in order to prevent organ rejection. This
reduces the risk of side effects such as viral infections.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A large international study coordinated by University Hospital
Regensburg and Charite' -- Universita"tsmedizin Berlin has demonstrated
the safety of new cell therapy approaches for use in kidney transplant recipients. Transplant recipients were shown to require lower levels of immunosuppression in order to prevent organ rejection. This reduces the
risk of side effects such as viral infections. Results from this study
have been published in The Lancet.


========================================================================== Transplant recipients usually receive immunosuppressants to prevent organ rejection. However, these drugs cannot provide an absolute guarantee that rejection will not occur at a later stage. Furthermore, immunosuppression
is often associated with severe side effects such as intolerances,
infections, or other problems. Cell therapy offers an alternative
treatment approach. This involves the use of specific immune cells, which
are isolated and expanded in vitro. Known as 'regulatory cell products',
these cells are then infused into the transplant recipient in order to
restore their immune system.

Charite' was one of a number of institutions involved in the international
ONE Study consortium, which was led by Prof. Dr. Edward K. Geissler
of University Hospital Regensburg. The Berlin-based members of the
consortium were primarily responsible for testing the safety and
efficacy of cell therapy in kidney transplant recipients as well as
effects on their immune system. Research centers based in several
different countries worked to a standardized protocol to develop a
range of regulatory cell products, which were then tested in clinical
trials. These therapies, which were administered to transplant recipients either before or after their surgery, comprised regulatory T cell and macrophage products, as well as products made of dendritic cells, which
produce anti-inflammatory messengers. Results were then combined and
compared with a reference patient group who had received standard-of-care immunosuppression. Patients were then followed up for a further 60 weeks.

"The new cell therapy was able to reduce the need for immunosuppression
in approximately 40 percent of patients, thereby minimizing the risk of
side effects," says the study's first author, Prof. Dr. Birgit Sawitzki
of the Institute for Medical Immunology on Campus Virchow-Klinikum. The regulatory cells were shown to be just as safe as the drugs
used in standard treatment and did not result in higher rejection
rates. "Particularly remarkable was the fact that none of the patients
given regulatory cells developed herpes infections, which often lead to dangerous complications in transplant recipients," notes Prof. Sawitzki.

Prof. Sawitzki's team was primarily responsible for the development and implementation of standardized immune monitoring, i.e. the monitoring
of immune cell populations in the blood. "Before transplantation,
patients showed altered immune cell composition, and regulatory cells
were better than standard therapy at restoring normal composition,"
explains Prof. Sawitzki. She adds: "This means there are new, safe
treatment options which can help to reduce the dose of conventional immunosuppressants and the risk of viral infections." There are plans
for further, larger studies to confirm the efficacy of regulatory cell
therapy.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Charite'_-_Universita"tsmedizin_Berlin. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Birgit Sawitzki, Paul N Harden, Petra Reinke, Aure'lie Moreau,
James A
Hutchinson, David S Game, Qizhi Tang, Eva C Guinan, Manuela
Battaglia, William J Burlingham, Ian S D Roberts, Mathias
Streitz, Re'gis Josien, Carsten A Bo"ger, Cristiano Scotta`,
James F Markmann, Joanna L Hester, Karsten Juerchott, Cecile
Braudeau, Ben James, Laura Contreras-Ruiz, Jeroen B van der Net,
Tobias Bergler, Rossana Caldara, William Petchey, Matthias Edinger,
Nathalie Dupas, Michael Kapinsky, Ingrid Mutzbauer, Natalie M Otto,
Robert O"llinger, Maria P Hernandez-Fuentes, Fadi Issa, Norbert
Ahrens, Christoph Meyenberg, Sandra Karitzky, Ulrich Kunzendorf,
Stuart J Knechtle, Josep Grinyo', Peter J Morris, Leslie Brent,
Andrew Bushell, Laurence A Turka, Jeffrey A Bluestone, Robert
I Lechler, Hans J Schlitt, Maria C Cuturi, Stephan Schlickeiser,
Peter J Friend, Tewfik Miloud, Alexander Scheffold, Antonio Secchi,
Kerry Crisalli, Sang-Mo Kang, Rachel Hilton, Bernhard Banas,
Gilles Blancho, Hans-Dieter Volk, Giovanna Lombardi, Kathryn
J Wood, Edward K Geissler. Regulatory cell therapy in kidney
transplantation (The ONE Study): a harmonised design and analysis
of seven non-randomised, single-arm, phase 1/2A trials. The Lancet,
2020; 395 (10237): 1627 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30167-7 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200610111933.htm

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