Mitochondrial DNA microchimerism in kidney transplant recipients / Mahmoud Sayed Zidan Abdelall ; Supervised Mohamed Gamal Eldin Saadi , May A. Hassaballa , Mervat Elansary

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Internal Medicine

Microchimerism is the presence of a small number of cells that originate from another individual and are therefore genetically distinct from the cells of the host individual, microchimerism has been proposed to play a bene{uFB01}cial immunomodulatory role toward the development of donor-speci{uFB01}c hypo responsiveness and allograft acceptance. Objectives: In this study, a quantitative amplification refractory mutation system quantitative polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-qPCR) approach using mitochondrial (mtDNA) polymorphisms of the HVRs I{u2013}III of the D-loop region of mtDNA was used to detect donor-speci{uFB01}c microchimerism tracing circulating mtDNA molecules in peripheral mononuclear blood cells ( PBMCs ) of renal transplant recipients, and to correlate between the presence or absence of donor-speci{uFB01}c microchimerism and graft survival and function as measured using serum creatinine and creatinine clearance. Patients and methods: ARMS-qPCR approach using mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms was used to detects and quantitates donor-speci{uFB01}c microchimerism with correlatation with graft function. Results: Donor-specific mtDNA using ARMS-qPCR technique was detectable in 17 cases (85%) ranging from 0.001% to 1.67% with mean value of 0.3638±0.3981%. Microchimerism was associated with early better graft function in spite of no impact on later graft function. Conclusion: We successfully used a sensitive real-time ARMS-PCR method based on mitochondrial DNA to determine and quantitate the donor microchimerism in kidney transplant recipients. Microchimerism was detected after kidney transplantation and was associated with early better graft function inspite of no impact on later graft function

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