Open AccessThe association of HLA-G polymorphisms and the synergistic effect of sMICA and sHLA-G with chronic kidney disease and allograft acceptance
Author(s) -
Vanessa Hauer,
Matilde Risti,
Bruna Laís Maurício de Miranda,
José S. da Silva,
Ana L. Cidral,
Carolina Pozzi,
Fabiana Loss de Carvalho Contieri,
Ibrahim Sadissou,
Eduardo Antônio Donadi,
Danillo G. Augusto,
Maria da Graça Bicalho
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0212750
Subject(s) - haplotype , kidney transplantation , genotyping , immunology , kidney disease , human leukocyte antigen , genotype , medicine , taqman , kidney , transplantation , biology , polymerase chain reaction , genetics , gene , antigen
The HLA-G and MICA genes are stimulated under inflammatory conditions and code for soluble (sMICA and sHLA-G) or membrane-bound molecules that exhibit immunomodulatory properties. It is still unclear whether they would have a synergistic or antagonistic effect on the immunomodulation of the inflammatory response, such as in chronic kidney disease (CKD), contributing to a better prognosis after the kidney transplantation. In this study, we went from genetic to plasma analysis, first evaluating the polymorphism of MICA , NKG2D and HLA-G in a cohort from Southern Brazil, subdivided in a control group of individuals (n = 75), patients with CKD (n = 94), and kidney-transplant (KT) patients (n = 64). MICA , NKG2D and HLA-G genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction with specific oligonucleotide probes, Taqman and Sanger sequencing, respectively. Levels of soluble forms of MICA and HLA-G were measured in plasma with ELISA. Case-control analysis showed that the individuals with haplotype HLA-G*01 : 01/ UTR-4 have a lower susceptibility to develop chronic kidney disease (OR = 0.480; p = 0.032). Concerning the group of kidney-transplant patients, the HLA-G genotypes +3010 GC ( rs1710 ) and +3142 GC ( rs1063320 ) were associated with higher risk for allograft rejection (OR = 5.357; p = 0.013 and OR = 5.357, p = 0.013, respectively). Nevertheless, the genotype +3010 GG (OR = 0.136; p = 0.041) was associated with kidney allograft acceptance, suggesting that it is a protection factor for rejection. In addition, the phenotypic analysis revealed higher levels of sHLA-G ( p = 0.003) and sMICA ( p < 0.001) in plasma were associated with the development of CKD. For patients who were already under chronic pathological stress and underwent a kidney transplant, a high sMICA ( p = 0.001) in pre-transplant proved to favor immunomodulation and allograft acceptance. Even so, the association of genetic factors with differential levels of soluble molecules were not evidenced, we displayed a synergistic effect of sMICA and sHLA-G in response to inflammation. This increase was observed in CKD patients, that when undergo transplantation, had this previous amount of immunoregulatory molecules as a positive factor for the allograft acceptance.