Immune Monitoring after paediatric liver Transplantation - in search for markers of over- and under-immunosuppression - ChilSFree

In a cohort of 246 children undergoing liver transplantation, survival over the 1rst year after transplantation was excellent at 98%. Rejection rates differ significantly across primary immunosuppresion groups, with children treated with tacrolimus plus steroids having markedly lower rates of T-cell mediated rejection than children treated with tacrolimus monotherapy. Analysis of soluble immune markers revealed distinct immune signatures that become apparent at 2 weeks after transplantation and then stay relatively stable over the course of the first year after transplantation. One of these signatures is associated with a favorable outcome, i.e. freedom of rejection during the first year after transplantation irrespective of clinical predictors of rejection.