"We expected to find a difference between the tolerant and immunosuppression groups in the genes associated with Tregs," says Dr. Newell. "However, we were surprised that our data showed that B cell genes may play an important role in maintaining and possibly inducing tolerance to transplanted organs."

According to Dr. Turka, identifying potential biomarkers of immune tolerance is the first step in identifying transplant recipients whose immunosuppression therapy could be reduced. "If we could develop a reliable tolerance signature-a pattern of gene expression that indicates that someone will not reject a transplant-then we could find patients who would make good candidates for supervised drug withdrawal," he said.

The study team stresses that transplant patients should never consider reducing or changing their medication regimen unless under the direct supervision of their physician. According to Drs. Newell and Turka, doing so would "almost certainly result in the rejection of the kidney, leaving the patient in need of another transplant."

Follow-up studies of this gene pattern are being planned. Similar findings already have been provided by a European group, led by King's College in London, that conducted a comparable study in kidney transplant patients. Their results appear in the same issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

"The goal of ITN is to understand how immune tolerance can be induced or achieved in a variety of settings, including allergy, autoimmune disease and transplantation," says Daniel Rotrosen, M.D., director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation at NIAID. "Potentially, a biomarker for tolerance in kidney transplant recipients may predict tolerance in individuals following transplantation of other organs or with other immune-mediated diseases. Having a cooperative program like ITN allows investigators to explore this possibility and apply the findings of one study across different fields of clinical research."

Source: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases