Genetic screening might be able to identify transplant patients at risk of acute rejection, scientists have reported. They believe that determining a patient's profile of cytokine genes will allow doctors to tailor immunosuppression to the individual.
At an American Society of Transplantation conference on May 14, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh reported a study in paediatric heart transplant patients in which patients with multiple acute rejection episodes were found to have a markedly different profile of cytokine genes involved in the immune response (eg, lower levels of interleukin-10) than those who experienced few rejection episodes.
If screening proves useful as a predictor of rejection, it might also help to identify patients who could be weaned off immunosuppression, the researchers say.