Immunosuppression in Kidney Transplant Recipients: An Update for the General Nephrologist

• Published in: Advances in kidney disease and health (Online) Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 408 - 415
• Main Authors: Abu Jawdeh, Bassam G., Me, Hay Me
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Belatacept; Calcineurin inhibitors; Calcineurin Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Graft Rejection - immunology; Graft Rejection - prevention & control; Graft Survival - drug effects; Graft Survival - immunology; Humans; Immunosuppression; Immunosuppression Therapy - methods; Immunosuppressive Agents - therapeutic use; Kidney allograft; Kidney Failure, Chronic - immunology; Kidney Failure, Chronic - surgery; Kidney Transplantation; Mycophenolate; Mycophenolic Acid - therapeutic use; Mycophenolate; Immunosuppression; Belatacept; Kidney allograft; Calcineurin inhibitors
• ISSN: 2949-8139; 2949-8139
• DOI: 10.1053/j.akdh.2024.05.001

Over the last 7 decades, kidney transplantation has evolved from an experiment between identical twins to becoming the gold standard treatment for end-stage kidney disease. To date, mycophenolate and calcineurin inhibitors, with or without prednisone, continue to constitute the backbone of modern maintenance immunosuppression. Despite major strides in improving acute rejection, long-term outcomes remain suboptimal with current regimens. Alternatives to calcineurin inhibitors such as belatacept and mammalian targets of rapamycin inhibitors exist; however, their wider-scale adoption remains relatively delayed due to concerns about increased rejection rates. In addition to continuing the investigation of steroid and calcineurin inhibitor sparing protocols, it is time to identify measurable surrogates for meaningful long-term graft survival. iBOX, a dynamic risk-prediction tool that predicts long-term death-censored graft failure could be a potential surrogate end point for future immunosuppression clinical trials. In this review, we summarize the landmark studies supporting current immunosuppression protocols and briefly discuss challenges and future directions.