Donor-Dependent Variations in Systemic Oxidative Stress and Their Association with One-Year Graft Outcomes in Kidney Transplantation.

Introduction: Oxidative stress has been implicated in complications after kidney transplantation (KT), including delayed graft function (DGF) and rejection. However, its role in long-term posttransplant outcomes remains unclear.

Methods: We investigated oxidative damage and antioxidant defense dynamics, and their impact on the graft outcomes, in 41 KT recipients categorized by type of donation over 12 months. Oxidative status was determined using OxyScore and AntioxyScore indexes, which comprise several circulating biomarkers of oxidative damage and antioxidant defense. Donor types included donation after brain death (DBD [61.0%]), donation after circulatory death (DCD [26.8%]), and living donation (LD [12.1%]).

Results: There was an overall increase in oxidative damage early after transplantation, which was significantly higher in DCD as compared to DBD and LD recipients. The multivariate adjustment confirmed the independent association of OxyScore and type of deceased donation with DGF, donor kidney function, and induction therapy with antithymocyte globulin. There were no differences in terms of antioxidant defense. Lower oxidative damage at day 7 predicted better graft function at 1-year posttransplant only in DBD recipients.

Conclusion: DCD induced greater short-term oxidative damage after KT, whereas the early levels of oxidative damage were predictive of the graft function 1 year after KT among DBD recipients.