THE PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF CD3+, CD68+, CD20+ INTERSTITIAL CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH KIDNEY ALLOGRAFT GLOMERULITIS

THE OBJECTIVE of the study was to assess the impact of the count of interstitial CD3+, CD68+ and CD20+ cells on long-term prognosis of renal allograft (RA). PATIENTS AND METHODS. 86 RA recipients with biopsy-proven according to the Banff 2013- 2017 criteria glomerulitis were enrolled in this retrospective study. The patients were subdivided into the following groups: 1) isolated glomerulitis with negative donor-specific antibodies (DSA) at the biopsy (n=53); 2) glomerulitis with positive DSA (n=22); 3) glomerulitis with undetermined DSA (n=11). Quantitative assay of interstitial positive cells was performed after immunohistochemical staining for CD68+, CD3+, CD20+. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used for the analysis of the relationship between interstitial CD3+, CD68+, CD20+ cells and risk of RA loss. RESULTS. CD68+ and CD3+ cells prevailed in interstitium in RA glomerulitis. CD20+ infiltrates were found in 60% of cases. CD20+ cells tended to form infiltrates, in 9 cases these infiltrates reached large sizes (≥ 50 CD20+ lymphocytes) and formed nodular structures. There was no difference in the count of interstitial CD3+ and CD68+ cells and in the presence of CD20+ infiltrates between DSA subgroups. Interstitial CD68+ ≥ 5 cells per field of view (FOV) (x400) and CD3+ ≥ 8 cells per FOV (x400), as well as the presence of large CD20+ infiltrates were associated with a lower RA survival (plog-rank < 0,05). Interstitial CD68+ (≥ 5 cells/FOV), CD3 + (≥ 8 cells/FOV) and the presence of large CD20+ interstitial infiltrates were independently associated with the risk of RA loss in the multivariable Cox regression analysis adjusted for DSA, cold and warm ischemia time (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION. Grade of interstitial infiltration by CD68+, CD3+ and CD20+ cells in RA glomerulitis could be independent predictor of RA loss.