Kidney Transplant Infection

This study aims to evaluate whether microbiological testing of the perfusion fluid used to transport transplanted organs can help predict the development of infections in liver and kidney transplant recipients, including possible donor-derived infections (infections transmitted from the donor organ). The study will include all liver and kidney transplant recipients with available perfusion fluid culture results from 2021 until the start of the study (retrospective phase) and for two years after study initiation (prospective phase). The study will assess how often high-risk microorganisms are identified in perfusion fluid, whether these findings are associated with complications or infections in recipients, and whether they affect patient outcomes, including mortality.

This study is designed to assess how effective letermovir is in preventing recurrence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in adult kidney or kidney/pancreas transplant recipients who are UW Health patients. Participants will be in the study for about 6 months.

BEAT-BK will see the effect of immunosuppression reduction/modification with and without IVIG on BKPyV infection, allograft function, allograft loss, acute transplant rejection, immunosuppression load and death in kidney and simultaneous kidney pancreas transplant recipients with polyomavirus infections (BKPyV).

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) establishes a chronic infection in 60% of the general population. In renal transplant recipients, it is responsible for morbidities occurring mainly in the first 6 months after transplantation. These include viral reactivations linked to immunosuppressive treatment inhibiting the anti-CMV T lymphocyte response. CMV infection, a sign of uncontrolled viral replication, is defined by the detection of viral DNA in the peripheral blood (DNAemia). CMV disease is defined as the association of an infection and symptoms attributable to the virus. In transplant recipients carrying the virus before transplantation (positive serology: CMV+), two infection prevention strategies are recommended: either close monitoring of DNAemia with antiviral treatment in the event of positive detection (pre-emptive strategy), or antiviral treatment for the first 3 months following the transplant (prophylactic strategy). Both strategies result in the occurrence of CMV infection in 15 to 20% of patients within the first 6 months, with the majority of events occurring between 3 and 6 months. Numerous studies show that the evaluation of the anti-CMV T lymphocyte response, either before (D0) or early after transplantation (D15), or when antiviral prophylaxis is stopped, allows the identification of patients at risk of CMV infection. No study has yet demonstrated the contribution of such an evaluation in a preventive strategy.

Background: Kidney transplant (KTx) recipients receive life-long immunosuppression, which increases the risk of severe infections. Bloodstream infections (BSI) are common after transplantation and are associated with high mortality and morbidity. Prophylactic antibiotic treatment of all KTx recipients does not provide overall benefit, but a personalized strategy of prophylactic treatment of KTx recipients at high risk of BSI with targeted antibiotics has not been assessed. Primary aim: To determine if prophylactic pivmecillinam in high-risk KTx recipients decreases the incidence of Enterobacterales BSI in the first 1-6 months post-transplantation. Secondary aim: To assess if prophylactic pivmecillinam reduces all-cause mortality, hospital admissions, graft loss, changes in the gut and urine resistome and microbiome, and increases quality of life in high-risk KTx recipients. Design and target group: Multi-center double-blinded randomized controlled trial of 150 KTx recipients at high risk of BSI who will be randomized 1:1 to either pivmecillinam 400 mg once daily or placebo from months 1-6 post-transplantation. KTx recipients will be included from Rigshospitalet, Aarhus University Hospital and Odense University Hospital. 60 participants in each study arm will provide urine and stool samples at randomization and at the end of intervention for metagenomic sequencing of the bacterial microbiome and resistome. Perspectives: This trial will provide evidence necessary to assess if KTx recipients at high risk of BSI benefit from targeted prophylactic antibiotics and address a critical knowledge gap of how to reduce mortality and morbidity due to BSI after KTx. The study will also serve as proof-of-concept for a personalized approach to infection prevention in other populations at high risk of severe infections. Results from the study may easily be implemented since there is already a clinical set-up for prevention of viral infections in KTx recipients.

COVID-19 is the pandemic disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. It is a highly contagious viral disease, the condition of which main clinical symptoms are characterized by fever and respiratory symptoms. Evidence indicates to worse outcomes in patients with pre-existing diseases, such as diabetes, arterial hypertension, heart disease, pneumopathies, chronic kidney disease, and immunodeficiencies. Recipients of kidney transplants make prolonged use of immunosuppressive drugs to inhibit the acquired immune response, notably the activity of lymphocytes. Due to this potential to modulate the immune and inflammatory response, it is speculated that the clinical and laboratory condition of COVID-19 in these patients is atypical. Preliminary evidence suggests worse outcomes of COVID-19 in immunosuppressed patients, as carriers of cancer. However, information on kidney transplant recipients is insufficient. So far, only reports of the case are available in the literature with different clinical presentations and outcomes. The aim of this study is, therefore, to characterize the demographics, clinical and laboratory conditions, and the outcomes of COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients in a national multicenter cohort.

Infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in solid organ transplant recipients. In kidney transplant recipients (KTR) urinary tract infection (UTI) represent 45-72% of all infections, and 30% of all hospitalizations for sepsis. Acute transplant pyelonephritis are the most common complications occurring in more than 20% of patients, mainly in the first year after transplantation. They are associated with an increased risk of acute kidney rejection and long-term kidney graft dysfunction. Gram-negative bacteria, mainly E. coli, account for more than 70% of UTI in KTR. As those infections are favoured by urinary tract modifications/defects and immunosuppression, they are often recurrent and necessitate repeated courses of antibiotics. Selective pressure due to antibiotic consumption, along with frequent hospital admissions and immunosuppression, are well known risk factors for the development of antibiotic resistant infections. Multidrug (MDR)- or extensively (XDR)- drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae including ESBL- or carbapenemase-producing organisms, are thus increasingly observed in transplant units and represent a global threat as very few new antibiotics are expected in the next decade. One main strategy to limit antimicrobial resistance is to reduce the duration of antibiotic treatment. A 7 day-course is recommended for simple acute pyelonephritis (APN) treated with fluoroquinolones or parenteral B-lactams, prolonged up to 10 or 14 days in the presence of underlying disease at risk of complications. Most KT teams treat patients between 14-21 days as recommended by American guidelines. However, the need to extend treatment duration in immunosuppressed patients is a poorly defined concept and the optimal duration of treatment for APN in KTR is not known as these patients are excluded from most studies. As there is an urgent need to reduce antibiotic consumption in this population at high risk of developing infections due to resistant pathogens, the hypothesis is that a 7 day-treatment is sufficient to cure APN with good clinical response after 48h of treatment in KTR and is as effective as 14 days.

The goal of this observational study is to develop a machine learning algorithm for early detection of infections in kidney transplant recipients using data recorded by wearable digital health technologies. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. What are the biometric data pattern changes in impending infections? 2. What accuracy the machine learning algorithm can achieve? Participants will be given/use their own wearable device that will record biometric data. Any infection event will be recorded and an algorithm will be trained to recognize changes in biometric data preceding symptomatic infection.