medicines to prevent rejection

Cashew nuts are among the main cash crops in coastal Kenya, due in large part to their high nutritional value. Unfortunately, they also make them highly susceptible to mold contamination, resulting in biodeterioration of the nutritional value and potential contamination with toxic secondary metabolites, such as aflatoxins, that cause them to be rejected for sale at the market. We determined the population diversity of the Aspergillus species and their role in aflatoxin contamination in cashew nuts in selected coastal regions of Kenya...

Pregnant patients are often on immunosuppressant medications, most commonly to manage transplantation or autoimmune disorders. Most immunosuppressant agents, including tacrolimus, corticosteroids, azathioprine, and calcineurin inhibitors, are safe during pregnancy and lactation. However, mycophenolic acid is associated with higher risks of birth defects and should be avoided in pregnancy. Tacrolimus, the commonly used drug in transplantation medicine and autoimmune disorders, requires monitoring of serum levels for dose adjustment, particularly during pregnancy...

Anti-rejection medications are essential in preventing organ rejection amongst solid organ transplant recipients; however, these agents also cause profound immunosuppression, predisposing lung transplant recipients (LTRs) to infectious complications. The timely management including prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of such infectious complications is vital to prevent significant morbidity and mortality in solid organ transplant recipients and allograft dysfunction. LTRs are inundated with microbes that may be recognized as commensals in hosts with intact immune systems...

Long-term patient and graft survival has been achieved in organ transplantation but at the expense of toxic side effects that are associated with long-term use of nonspecific immunosuppressive drugs. Discovering new regulators of dendritic cells is the key for development of an ideal treatment to prevent immune rejection. We hypothesized that knockdown of circMAP2K2 induces immunosuppressive DCs and that treatment with circMAP2K2 silenced-DCs can prevent alloimmune rejection. DCs were cultured and transfected with siRNA for circMAP2K2...

In Kenya, approximately one in five girls aged 15-19 years old are pregnant or already a mother. Adolescent girls and young women experience significant mental health vulnerabilities during the pregnancy and postpartum periods, leading to poor antenatal and postnatal care attendance and inferior infant and maternal health outcomes. Pregnant adolescents often experience stigma and disenfranchisement due to their pregnancy status and at the same time lack access to mental health support within health settings, schools, religious institutions, and communities...

The prevention of pre-eclampsia is difficult due to the syndromic nature and multiple underlying mechanisms of this severe complication of pregnancy. The current clinical distinction between early- and late-onset disease, although clinically useful, does not reflect the true nature and complexity of the pathologic processes leading to pre-eclampsia. The current gaps in knowledge on the heterogeneous molecular pathways of this syndrome and the lack of adequate, specific diagnostic methods are major obstacles to early screening and tailored preventive strategies...

Background and Objectives : Underpowered immune response to vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 was observed in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. A novel combination of monoclonal antibodies tixagevimab-cilgavimab (TGM/CGM) received authorization as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in those with reduced response to vaccine. We aimed to evaluate the response rate to COVID-19 vaccination in kidney transplant (KT), compared to liver transplant (LT) recipients, and the efficacy and safety of PrEP with TGM/CGM. Material and Methods : Between March and November 2022, adult KT and LT recipients who had completed the vaccination schedule (3 doses) were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies titer...

Implantable biomaterials represent the forefront of regenerative medicine, providing platforms and vessels for delivering a creative range of therapeutic benefits in diverse disease contexts. However, the chronic damage resulting from implant rejection tends to outweigh the intended healing benefits, presenting a considerable challenge when implementing treatment-based biomaterials. In response to implant rejection, proinflammatory macrophages and activated fibroblasts contribute to a synergistically destructive process of uncontrolled inflammation and excessive fibrosis...

Preventing kidney graft dysfunction and rejection is a critical step in addressing the nationwide organ shortage and improving patient outcomes. While kidney transplants (KT) are performed more frequently, the overall number of patients on the waitlist consistently exceeds organ availability. Despite improved short-term outcomes in KT, comparable progress in long-term allograft survival has not been achieved. Major cause of graft loss at 5 years post-KT is chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) characterized by interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA)...

BACKGROUND: Antibody-mediated rejection is an important cause of kidney transplant loss. A new strategy requiring application of precision medicine tools in transplantation considers molecular compatibility between donors and recipients and holds the promise of improved immunologic risk, preventing rejection and premature graft loss. The objective of this study was to gather Canadian transplant professionals' perspectives on molecular compatibility in kidney transplantation. METHODS: Seventeen Canadian transplant professionals (14 nephrologists, 2 nurses, and 1 surgeon) participated in semistructured interviews in 2021...

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the current standard of care for both chronic and acute terminal liver disease. However, a major limitation of this treatment is the shortage of healthy donor organs and the need for life-long immunosuppression to prevent graft rejection. Hepatocyte transplantation (HTx) has emerged as a promising, alternative therapeutic approach to either replace OLT or to act as a bridge until a donor liver becomes available thus reducing waiting list mortality. HTx involves the infusion and engraftment of human hepatocytes, typically isolated from organs unsuitable for OLT, into recipient liver parenchyma to carry out the missing hepatic function of the native cells...

Rapamycin is an mTOR inhibitor that has been shown to extend the lifespan of laboratory model organisms. In humans, rapamycin is used at higher doses as an immunosuppressive medication to prevent organ rejection. Numerous adverse effects are seen with rapamycin treatment in humans, with one of the most common being dysregulation of lipid metabolism. In humans, this often manifests as mild to moderate serum lipid elevations, with a small subset developing extreme triglyceride elevations. This case report describes an eight-year-old, castrated male, clinically healthy Labrador retriever who developed severe hypertriglyceridemia associated with low-dose rapamycin administration over a six-month period...

Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive drug that is used to prevent tissue rejection in organ transplants and to treat autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. It has important toxic effects in many organs such as the liver and kidney. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the effectiveness of the single and combined treatment of dipyridamole, which is a vasodilator and has an antioxidant effect, ketotifen which is toll-like receptor-4 inhibitory and has an antioxidant effect, quercetin which is an antioxidant and has an anti-inflammatory effect in cyclosporine-induced hepatorenal toxicity...

Yinzhihuang (YZH), a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, was widely used to treat cholestasis. Cholestatic liver injury limited the use of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine A (CsA) in preventing organ rejection after solid organ transplantation. Clinical evidences suggested that YZH could enhance bile acids and bilirubin clearance, providing a potential therapeutic strategy against CsA-induced cholestasis. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether YZH can effectively alleviate CsA-induced cholestatic liver injury, as well as the molecular mechanisms responsible for its hepatoprotective effects...

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were given the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their findings of nucleoside base modifications that lead to the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. This was a remarkable achievement, given that their initial manuscript was rejected by Nature and Science in 2005. The development of mRNA vaccines lagged for more than a decade for several reasons, including the lack of funding, the perceived risks of the technology, and the scepticism of many scientists...

Onconephrology, an emerging field in modern medicine, is gaining importance due to its intricate challenges derived from the mixing field of tumorous and renal diseases. The growing incidence of tumors in transplant patients requires preventive strategies and accurate monitoring. Pre-transplant screening is crucial, focusing on subjects with oncological history. Post-transplant follow-up must be personalized, tailoring screenings for patients with cancer history. Immunosuppressive therapy, although essential to prevent organ rejection, represents a delicate balance between controlling the immune response and cancer risk management...

Tocilizumab prevents clinical worsening of chronic antibody-mediated rejection (CAMR) of kidney transplant recipients. Optimization of this treatment is necessary. We identified the determinants of early tocilizumab exposure (within the first three months) and investigated the relationship between early plasma tocilizumab exposure and graft function. Patients with CAMR who started treatment with tocilizumab were retrospectively included. Demographic, clinical, and biological determinants of the tocilizumab trough concentration (Cmin ) were studied using a linear mixed effect model, and the association between early exposure to tocilizumab (expressed as the sum of Cmin over the three first months (M) of treatment (ΣCmin )) and the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) determined at M3 and M6 were investigated...

BACKGROUND: Corneal neovascularization (CoNV) is the second major cause of blindness. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors, e.g. , bevacizumab, have been used to prevent CoNV. AIM: We conducted an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials to examine the efficacy and safety of anti-VEGF in CoNV. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using three electronic databases. Mean difference (MD), standard mean difference (SMD), and relative risk (RR) are used to estimate the effect size...

Organ transplantation is an innovative field that was pioneered in the middle of the last century with the development of surgical techniques, advances in the understanding of immunological processes that cause rejection, introduction of drugs to prevent rejection and improved methods for organ preservation. In Israel, the first heart transplantation and kidney transplantation were performed in the mid-1960's followed by pancreas, lung and liver transplantation that were conducted for the first time in the late 1980's and early 1990's...

The widespread use of immunosuppressive drugs makes it possible to reduce inflammation in autoimmune diseases, as well as prevent transplant rejection in organ recipients. Despite their key action in blocking the body's immune response, these drugs have many side effects. These actions primarily affect the cardiovascular system, and the incidence of complications in patients using immunosuppressive drugs is significant, being associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular incidents such as myocardial infarction and stroke...