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New kidney transplant approach could eliminate need for lifelong immune drugs

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“These kidneys are going to last forever,” one researcher said.

Three children who have undergone kidney transplants in California will likely be spared from ever having to take anti-rejection medication, because of an innovative technique that eliminates the need for lifelong immunosuppression, ground-breaking new research suggests.

Scientists at Stanford Medicine detailed the cases Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. All three children have an extremely rare genetic disease called Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia, or SIOD, that often destroys a person’s ability to fight off infection and leads to kidney failure. In each case, a parent donated stem cells taken from bone marrow, as well as a kidney. Read the full story from NBC News.

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A Kidney Transplant Could Be the Key to a Healthier, Longer, More Fulfilling Life

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Kidneys act as blood filters for the human body. Normally, kidneys filter approximately half a cup of blood every minute. During the filtration process, the kidneys remove wastes and extra water, resulting in urine. Sometimes, because of certain underlying kidney diseases, they fail to filter the blood correctly. This can lead to kidney failure. Read the full article from CBS Miami.

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New research looks at racial disparities in kidney transplants

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CINCINNATI — African Americans wait two- to four-times longer on transplant waiting lists than whites, according to the Cleveland Clinic. One health center is working to get answers and cut down the wait.

D’On Ingram received an ultrasound as a follow up to his recent kidney transplant—a surgery that was years in the making. Just 10 years ago, doctors diagnosed him with stage three renal failure. Five years later, his kidneys got weaker, and his doctor put him on dialysis.  Read the full story in Spectrum News 1 here.

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Inflammation after kidney transplantation correlates with increased mortality

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In the early phase following a kidney transplantation, inflammation is associated with increased long-term all-cause mortality, according to data published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

Further, no general inflammatory pathway stood out as a main cause of mortality, which researchers noted suggests general inflammation is more important. Read more in Healio.

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Access to kidney transplantation is improving for everyone, but more work remains to be done

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Organ donation and transplantation are saving more lives in the United States than ever before, thanks to concerted work by stakeholders from across the country: donor families, organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, the Organ Procurement Transplant Network (OPTN), the hundreds of volunteers who serve on OPTN committees, and others.

I have witnessed this remarkable achievement firsthand as a transplant physician caring for people with kidney disease. I also witness the plight of people with end-stage kidney disease who languish on transplant wait lists, a situation that is compounded by the kinds of disparities seen in other aspects of health care. Read more in STAT News.

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