About this Research Topic
Solid organ transplantation is the definitive treatment for many end-stage organ diseases. Over the last several decades, although transplant volumes have increased and outcomes have improved, there remains opportunity for continued advancement particularly in organs such as the lung and intestine whose survival is shorter than those of the kidney, liver and heart. The subject of much research in transplantation has been the development of therapies to treat allograft rejection and infection, while maintenance immunosuppression regimens have remained largely unchanged over the past 30 years. That said, with an improved understanding of the molecular genetics of alloimmunity, there exists the exciting potential for significant progress in the field of transplantation.
Management of the solid organ transplant patient is a unique challenge. Care must be taken to maintain a balance between immune suppression to prevent allograft rejection, and immune protection to fight infectious microorganisms. An imbalance to either extreme can lead to devastating consequences for the patient. The potential for progress in transplantation, therefore, exists on multiple fronts, both immune manipulation and infection prevention. As our understanding of the physiologic processes that underpin immune tolerance and defense against infection continues to evolve, new management strategies as well as molecular targets continue to be identified. Optimal management of current immunosuppressive agents, as well as the development of more finely targeted therapies with fewer off target effects, continues to advance the field of transplantation. Additionally, the introduction of novel technologies presents unique opportunities to pharmacologically alter donor organs. The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together work from diverse fields, including pharmacology, chemistry, engineering, molecular biology and microbiology, to highlight current optimization strategies as well as promising emerging therapies in solid organ transplantation.
The aim of the current Research Topic is explore novel pharmacologic treatments in solid organ transplantation and to review the data related to utilization of current therapies. Areas to be covered in this Special Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Induction and maintenance immunosuppression
• Pharmacologic therapies for acute cellular rejection
• Monoclonal antibodies and targeted inhibitors for the treatment of humoral rejection
• Cell-based therapies for prevention of organ rejection
• Therapies for chronic allograft rejection
• Antimicrobial, including antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial, agents for the treatment and prevention of infection in the transplant recipient
• Ex-vivo organ perfusion and pharmacologic immune modulation
Keywords: Immunosuppression, alloimmunity, allograft rejection, infection, cell- and tissue-based therapy
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
