Belatacept Conversion in Kidney After Liver Transplantation.

Costimulatory blockade with belatacept has demonstrated long-term benefits in renal transplantation, but de novo use in liver transplant recipients has resulted in increased rejection, graft loss, and death. However, belatacept conversion as a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) avoidance strategy has not been studied and may be of benefit in liver transplantation where CNI-induced renal dysfunction and toxicity are barriers to improved outcomes. Using clinical data extracted from our institutional medical record, we report on 8 patients who underwent kidney after liver transplantation and were treated with belatacept-based immunosuppression and transient CNI therapy. All patients tolerated belatacept therapy without any patient deaths or graft losses. No episodes of rejection, de novo donor-specific antibody formation, or major systemic infections were observed, and all patients demonstrated preserved liver and excellent renal allograft function. Patients received belatacept for a median duration of 13.2 mo, and at a median follow-up of 15.9 mo post-kidney transplant, 6 of 8 patients continued on belatacept with 3 completely off and 3 poised to transition off CNI. These findings are the first evidence that in liver transplant recipients requiring subsequent kidney transplantation, belatacept-based therapy can potentially facilitate CNI-free maintenance immunosuppression. This supports the possibility of belatacept conversion in stand-alone liver transplant recipients as a viable method of CNI avoidance. Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Transplantation Direct. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

Citation

Octav Cristea, Geeta Karadkhele, William H Kitchens, Payaswini Vasanth, Christian P Larsen, Idelberto R Badell. Belatacept Conversion in Kidney After Liver Transplantation. Transplantation direct. 2021 Nov;7(11):e780

PMID: 34712780

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