ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Alloimmunity and Transplantation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1605716
This article is part of the Research TopicBalancing Alloantigen-Induced Immune Responses and Anti-tumor Immunity in TransplantationView all 15 articles
Immune monitoring and risk of infection in pediatric liver transplantation: a prospective study
Provisionally accepted- 1Clinical Immunology, University Hospital La Paz, La Paz, Spain
- 2PhD School, University Hospital La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 3Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 4University Hospital La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 5Biostatistics Platform, University Hospital La Paz, La Paz, Spain
- 6Paediatric Hepatology, University Hospital La Paz, La Paz, Spain
- 7European Reference Network (ERN), RARE LIVER, Madrid, Asturias, Spain
- 8European Reference Network (ERN), TransplantChild, Madrid, Asturias, Spain
- 9U767, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Madrid, Madrid Community, Spain
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Background: Immune monitoring has been proposed to optimize immunosuppressive therapy in liver recipients. This study aims to describe immunological changes following liver transplantation in pediatric recipients and to identify immune markers associated with post-transplant complications.The immunological status of 95 pediatric liver recipients was prospectively assessed before transplantation and at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-transplantation. Serum immunoglobulins (Ig) were measured by nephelometry and immunophenotype was evaluated by flow cytometry. T, B and NK lymphocyte counts were adjusted for age using standard reference ranges.Results: Graft rejection, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder and autoimmune hepatitis was diagnosed in 6%, 2% and 0% patients, respectively. Early infections affected 43% patients, while late infections occurred in 17%, 24%, 10% and 9% recipients at each follow-up interval. Baseline immune dysregulation primarily involved the cellular compartment, with 78% recipients showing lymphopenia. Lymphocyte subpopulation scores improved following liver transplantation, with CD4 + score normalizing by month 1 and CD8 + , CD19 + and NK scores by month 6. First-month IgG hypogammaglobulinemia, observed in 20% recipients, resolved completely at month 12. First-month T-cell lymphopenia (CD3 + hazard ratio [HR] 2.48, p=0.005; CD8 + HR 2.38, p=0.008) and hypogammaglobulinemia (IgG HR 2.18, p=0.036; IgA HR 2.40, p=0.011; IgM HR 2.61, p=0.006) were associated with higher risk of late infections. In multivariate analysis, only CD3 + T-cell lymphopenia remained a significant predictor (HR 2.13, p=0.030).Conclusions: Baseline immune dysregulation resolved within the first months posttransplantation. Early infections were unrelated to immune markers, while late infections were associated with CD3 + T-cell lymphopenia and hypogammaglobulinemia.
Keywords: Liver Transplantation, humoral immunity, Cellular immunity, immune monitoring, Flow Cytometry
Received: 03 Apr 2025; Accepted: 22 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cuesta Martín De La Cámara, Miguel-Berenguel, Cámara, Losantos, Frauca-Remacha, Hierro, Muñoz-Bartolo, Lledín-Barbacho, Martinez Feito, Lopez-Granados and Sánchez Zapardiel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ricardo Cuesta Martín De La Cámara, Clinical Immunology, University Hospital La Paz, La Paz, Spain
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