BACKGROUND: Rejection and infection can occur after kidney transplantation and are important factors in preserving graft kidney function. The use of immunosuppressant agents in transplantation is therefore important, and the question of which induction therapy should be used as an immunosuppressant is controversial.
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to assess the comparative benefits and harms of various maintenance immunosuppressive induction agents in adults undergoing kidney transplantation by using a network meta-analysis and to generate rankings of the different immunosuppressive regimens according to their safety and efficacy.
METHODS: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and trial registers were searched until May 2017 to identify randomized controlled trials on immunosuppression for kidney transplantation.
RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies involving 4484 participants were eligible for analysis. Induction and maintenance treatments were administered for 12 months. There was no evidence of differences in outcomes between therapies on all-cause mortality, graft loss, cytomegalovirus, BK virus, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and biopsy-proven acute rejection. However, compared with intravenous basiliximab (an interleukin-2 receptor antagonist [IL-2RA]), the most effective treatments to decrease biopsy-proven acute rejection were intravenous alemtuzumab and rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG). The odds ratios were 0.45 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-40.78) and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.42-0.95), respectively. As a side effect, rATG was accompanied by more bacterial infection than the IL-2RA (OR, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.01-2.8]).
CONCLUSIONS: The determination of induction in kidney transplantation is important for future prognosis of the graft kidney. Alemtuzumab and rATG exhibited lower biopsy-proven acute rejection than the IL-2RA. As a side effect, rATG produced frequent bacterial infections.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of antibody induction therapies in kidney transplantation. Systematic literature searches were undertaken using MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library database from 1980 to 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing three antibody induction therapies (alemtuzumab, interleukin-2 receptor antibodies and antithymocyte globulin) between each other were identified. Bayesian network meta-analysis was used to combine both the direct and indirect evidence on treatment efficacy and its safety. Antibody induction therapy studies, comprising of 18 RCTs (3444 kidney transplant recipients), were included. Overall, alemtuzumab treatment was superior to the ATG group (OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.71) and IL-2RAs group (OR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.52) for reducing the 1-year acute rejection in kidney transplant recipients. Although alemtuzumab treatment was nearly same with ATG group and IL-2RAs group in improving patient survival and renal function, it can reduce the adverse effects of cytomegalovirus infection more efficiently than ATG group (OR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.95) and IL-2RAs group (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.61 to 1.73). Alemtuzumab was not associated with increased other adverse effects. Alemtuzumab treatment is safe and effective for kidney transplant recipients. No serious adverse effects were observed in trials or in general populations.
Background: Immunosuppressants fight against acute rejections by influencing humoral and cellular immune to suppress the immune function, and then improve patient/renal graft survival. Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of alemtuzumab, daclizumab and antithymocyte globulin in inducing immunosuppression in kidney transplantation. Methods:The randomized controlled trials of alemtuzumab or daclizumab versus ATG in kidney tranplantation published from 1966 to 2011 were enrolled by searching PubMed and EMBASE using Cochrane systematic review. We collected data and major outcomes. And a meta-analysis was conducted on homogeneous studies. Results and Conclusion: A total of 9 randomized controlled trials (777 patients) about kidney transplantation were included. The meta-analysis results showed that the safety items including patient/renal graft survival and acute rejection at a follow-up of 24 months had no statistical differences among the three drugs (all P > 0.05). But there was a significant difference between the infection rates of alemtuzumab and antithymocyte globulin at 36 months of follow-up (P < 0.05). The results indicate that alemtuzumab, daclizumab and antithymocyte globulin are equally effective in inducing immunosuppression at a follow-up of 24 months in kidney transplantation. However, compared to antithymocyte globulin, alemtuzumab has a lower rate of infection at a follow-up of 36 months.
Rejection and infection can occur after kidney transplantation and are important factors in preserving graft kidney function. The use of immunosuppressant agents in transplantation is therefore important, and the question of which induction therapy should be used as an immunosuppressant is controversial.
OBJECTIVE:
The goal of this study was to assess the comparative benefits and harms of various maintenance immunosuppressive induction agents in adults undergoing kidney transplantation by using a network meta-analysis and to generate rankings of the different immunosuppressive regimens according to their safety and efficacy.
METHODS:
CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and trial registers were searched until May 2017 to identify randomized controlled trials on immunosuppression for kidney transplantation.
RESULTS:
Twenty-seven studies involving 4484 participants were eligible for analysis. Induction and maintenance treatments were administered for 12 months. There was no evidence of differences in outcomes between therapies on all-cause mortality, graft loss, cytomegalovirus, BK virus, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and biopsy-proven acute rejection. However, compared with intravenous basiliximab (an interleukin-2 receptor antagonist [IL-2RA]), the most effective treatments to decrease biopsy-proven acute rejection were intravenous alemtuzumab and rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG). The odds ratios were 0.45 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-40.78) and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.42-0.95), respectively. As a side effect, rATG was accompanied by more bacterial infection than the IL-2RA (OR, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.01-2.8]).
CONCLUSIONS:
The determination of induction in kidney transplantation is important for future prognosis of the graft kidney. Alemtuzumab and rATG exhibited lower biopsy-proven acute rejection than the IL-2RA. As a side effect, rATG produced frequent bacterial infections.
