An Insight Into the Immunologic Events and Risk Assessment in Renal Transplantation

Organ transplantation has always been considered to be the optimal therapeutic intervention in patients with end-stage organ failure. In the US, approximately 615,000 patients are diagnosed with end-stage renal disease and less than 30% have received a kidney transplant. One of the crucial drawbacks in successful renal transplantation is allograft rejection. Survival rates among transplant recipients have greatly improved due to better understanding of transplant biology and more effective immunosuppressive agents. Post-transplant immune monitoring and optimization of the immunosuppressive therapy using non-invasive biomarkers can effectively predict impending graft rejection and may spare the need for renal biopsy. This article provides an insight into the immunomodulations of renal transplant recipients. It depicts the immune system including several types of kidney rejection and reviews the biomarkers that may serve in near future, as surveillance tools for graft monitoring. Finally, a summary on the main immunosuppressive drugs used in kidney transplant both in the induction and maintenance phases is also covered.