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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Alloimmunity and Transplantation

This article is part of the Research TopicNK Cells in TransplantationView all 4 articles

Skewed pretransplant lymphocytes subpopulations correlate with opportunistic infection onset within the first two years following kidney transplantation

Provisionally accepted
Asma Beldi-FerchiouAsma Beldi-Ferchiou1,2,3Florence RunyoFlorence Runyo3,4Florence Canouï-PoitrineFlorence Canouï-Poitrine2,3,5Bastien PeifferBastien Peiffer5Benyamin Mattei DediuBenyamin Mattei Dediu4Cécile Maud ChampyCécile Maud Champy6Julie OniszczukJulie Oniszczuk4Giovanna MelicaGiovanna Melica3,7,8Cédric UsureauCédric Usureau10,9Nizar JOHERNizar JOHER4José Laurent COHENJosé Laurent COHEN11,2,3Philippe GrimbertPhilippe Grimbert12,2,3Caroline PilonCaroline Pilon11,2,3Marie MatignonMarie Matignon12,2,3*
  • 1Immunology Department, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
  • 2Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U955, Institut Mondor de recherche biomedicale, Créteil, France
  • 3Universite Paris-Est Creteil Val de Marne, Créteil, France
  • 4Nephrology and Renal Transplantation Department/Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire TRUE (InnovaTive theRapy for immUne disordErs), Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
  • 5Public Health Department, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
  • 6Urology Department, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
  • 7Infectious disease Department, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
  • 8Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U955, Equipe 18 Virus, Hépatologie, Institut Mondor de recherche biomedicale, Créteil, France
  • 9Laboratoire d'Immunologie et Histocompatibilité, Hopital Saint-Louis, Paris, France
  • 10INSERM UMR976, Universite Paris Cite Institut de Recherche Saint-Louis, Paris, France
  • 11CIC Biothérapies Department/Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire TRUE (InnovaTive theRapy for immUne disordErs), Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
  • 12Nephrology and Renal Transplantation Department/CIC Biothérapies Department/Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire TRUE (InnovaTive theRapy for immUne disordErs), Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, Créteil, France

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Introduction. After kidney transplantation (KT), there is no reliable assessment of the immunosuppressive state. We analysed pre-KT T-, B- and NK-cell populations in relation to the occurrence of opportunistic infections (OI) or acute rejection (AR) after KT. Methods. We included 422 adult KT recipients from 01/2016 to 09/2020. Immune cells were analysed using flow cytometry in 283 recipients before KT in three groups: AR, OI or no event within 24 months after KT. Results. There were 49 recipients in the OI group, 44 in the AR group and 190 in the control group. Before KT, higher absolute counts and percentages of NK cells (p=0.001 and p=0.007 respectively), elevated absolute counts of plasmablasts and CD21⁻CD38⁻ B cells (age-associated B cells) (p=0.045 and p=0.028 respectively), and a lower proportion of CD3+ T cells (p=0.022) were independently associated with the occurrence of OI within two years following kidney transplantation (KT). In recipients with OI occurring before three months, only absolute count of NK cells before KT remained independently associated with the occurrence of OI (p=0.002). None of the studied immune cell population was associated with AR. Conclusion. Our results suggest that higher levels of pretransplant NK cells and age-associated B cells are correlated with the occurrence of OI within two years after KT. This result may improve stratification of individualized infectious risk prior to KT.

Keywords: Kidney Transplantation, Opportunistic infection, acute rejection, immunomonitoring, NK cells

Received: 12 Aug 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Beldi-Ferchiou, Runyo, Canouï-Poitrine, Peiffer, Mattei Dediu, Champy, Oniszczuk, Melica, Usureau, JOHER, COHEN, Grimbert, Pilon and Matignon. 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: Marie Matignon, marie.matignon@aphp.fr

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