ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Alloimmunity and Transplantation
Monitoring Mitochondrial Function in Peripheral T Cells to Assess Immune Status and Graft Health After Kidney Transplantation
Provisionally accepted
Erdi Zhang1,2,3,4
Zhengli Wan1,2,3Yuwen Ma1,2,3
Yamei Li1,2,3
Qixiang Zhou1,2,3
Bei Cai1,2,3Yi Li1,2,3Feng Li5
Binwu Ying1,2,3,4Lin Yan1,2,3*- 1Sichuan University West China Hospital Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan University West China Hospital Clinical Laboratory Medicine Research Center, Chengdu, China
- 3Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 4Sichuan University West China Hospital Institution of Medical and Engineering Integration for Molecular Diagnosis, Chengdu, China
- 5Sichuan University Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China
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Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for end-stage renal disease, but immune-mediated graft dysfunction remains a major barrier to long-term success. Conventional indicators such as serum creatinine and proteinuria are not immune-specific, and kidney biopsy is unsuitable for routine use. Mitochondrial function, a critical regulator of immune activation, may provide novel biomarkers for immune monitoring in transplantation. In this study, the percentage of peripheral immune cells with low mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP-Low%) and mitochondrial mass (MM) were assessed in 30 kidney transplant recipients and 44 healthy controls. Of the 30 transplant recipients, 15 provided paired samples before transplantation and at one month after transplantation with preserved graft function, while the other 15 had impaired graft function. Flow cytometry was used to measure lymphocyte subsets and mitochondrial parameters, which were further evaluated across specific T cell populations. The results showed that increased age correlated with lower MMP-Low% and higher MM. Patients with impaired graft function showed significantly reduced MMP-Low% and elevated MM, suggesting enhanced metabolic activation, while those with preserved graft function displayed increased MMP-Low% and decreased MM, reflecting a quiescent metabolic profile consistent with immunosuppression. These findings indicate that peripheral T cell mitochondrial metrics may serve as sensitive, dynamic, and non-invasive biomarkers for post-transplant immune monitoring.
Keywords: Graft dysfunction, immune monitoring, Kidney Transplantation, Mitochondrial mass, mitochondrial membrane potential, T lymphocytes
Received: 23 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wan, Ma, Li, Zhou, Cai, Li, Li, Ying and Yan. 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: Lin Yan
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