Polymorphisms of nucleotide factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 2 and 4 and the risk of acute rejection following kidney transplantation

BACKGROUND: Acute rejection (AR) is a common complication of kidney transplantation. Nuclear factors of activated T cells (NFATs) are transcription factors involved in the activation of T lymphocytes, but their association with AR is unclear. METHODS: This retrospective, case–control study included 200 renal transplant recipients who were divided into the AR group (n = 69) and stable group (n = 131). Their blood samples were collected, and DNA was extracted from the whole blood. High-throughput next-generation sequencing was used to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the NFATC2 and NFATC4 genes. The correlation of these SNPs with AR was determined by logistic analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-one SNPs of the NFATC2 and NFATC4 genes were identified by the sequencing and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium analyses. After adjusting for age, gender and immunosuppressive protocols, 27 SNPs were correlated with AR, of which the SNP rs2426295 of the NFATC2 gene showed a significant correlation with AR in the HET model (AA vs. AC: OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.19–0.98, P = 0.045), but no significant NFATC4 SNPs were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the rs2426295 variant of the NFATC2 gene is significantly associated with the occurrence of AR following kidney transplantation. And patients with AA genotypes in rs2426295 are inclined to suffer from AR pathogenesis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00345-017-2117-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.