Evaluation of Pre- and Post-Transplantation Various Serum Cytokines for Prediction of Liver Allograft Rejection

Kim, Say June; Oh, Eun Jee; Lee, Chae Young; Kim, Dong Goo

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to identify whether the percentages of T cell subset, the serum interferon-gamma (IFN gamma ) as a Th1 cytokine, soluble CD30 (sCD30) as a marker for activation of Th2 cytokine producing T cells, and intracellular cytokines (IL-2, IL-4) can predict the acute cellular rejection episodes of liver transplant patients.
Methods
Pretransplant and posttransplant sera on days 1, 3 and 7 after surgery of 88 adult living donor liver transplant recipients were tested for the percentage of T cell subset (CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells), IL-2, IL-4 production by peripheral mononucleated cells with fluorescence activated cell sorter analysis and for the serum IFN gamma , sCD30 concentrations with commercial ELISA kits. Recipients were subdivided into three groups as control (n=51), ELE (the group which showed elevated liver enzyme but RAI score <2. n=25), and AR (the group with acute rejection which showed RAI score > or =3. n=13). The differences in the level of cytokines among each group were analyzed.
Results
The percentages of CD3+ T cell subset at preoperatively and day 1, 7 after surgery in AR were higher than those of control (P <0.05). The IL-2 production in AR was the highest and the IL-4 production was the lowest on posttransplant 7th day among three groups without significance. AR had a significantly higher pretranspant IFN gamma concentration than control (P <0.05). The pretransplant serum level of sCD30 was not different between the control and AR. However, in comparison with control, which showed a steadily decreasing serum sCD30 level after transplantation, 12 of the 14 patients in the AR showed an increase in their sCD30 levels from day 1 to day 3 after transplantation (P <.05).
Conclusion
The measurement of serum IFN gamma and sCD30 during pre- and early post-LDLT period might be helpful to evaluate the risk of the occurrence of liver allograft rejection.