Effect of different induction therapies on the clinical outcomes of ABO-incompatible living donor kidney transplantation recipients

Abstract

Objective To compare the clinical outcomes of low-dose rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) vs basiliximab as induction therapy in recipients of ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (ABOi-KT). Methods Retrospective analysis was conducted for e the clinical data of 40 ABOi-KT recipients between March 2017 and March 2019. 17 recipients of them received induction therapy with basiliximab (basiliximab group) while another 23 recipients received low-dose rATG (rATG group, rATG 25 mg/d×3 d). During a median follow-up period of 282 days, the data of serum creatinine and eGFR at 1 week and 1 month, graft survival rate and complication rate of two groups were compared. Results No significant difference existed in age, gender, dialytic modality/duration, blood groups of recipients, HLA mis-match, blood group antibody titers, dose of rituximab, blood groups of donors or donor age (P>0.05). The times of double filtration plasmapheresis in Basiliximab group were more (P 0.05). No significant difference existed in graft survival rate. No significant difference existed in rate of acute rejection, parvovirus B19 infection, urinary tract infection or hematoma. Conclusions Low-dose of rATG is as effective as basiliximab for ABOi-KT recipients. And rATG does not increase the rate of infection. Key words: Kidney transplantation; ABO blood group; Incompatible; Living donor; Rabbit antithymocyte globulin; Basiliximab