The immune system in children born to renal transplant recipient women: Phenotypic and functional evaluation at birth and during the second half of the first year of life

• Grant number: 08/06232-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2009
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Applied Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Isabel de Moraes Pinto
• Grantee: Erika Ono Kawaoku
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Children born to renal transplant recipients are exposed to immunosuppressive drugs during all the embryonic and fetal period. Despite that, little is known about their immune system at birth, as well as the possible long-term consequences of the exposure to immunosuppressive drugs during all the gestational period.In this study, we will investigate 20 children born to women who have undergone renal transplantation. They will be evaluated at birth and at 8 months of age and will be compared with a group of 30 children born at term and with 20 preterm children paired according to the gestational age of the preterm children born to renal transplant recipients. Using flow cytometry, CD3+ T, CD4+ T, CD8+ T, B cells, regulatory T cells, NK cells, gd T cells, NKT cells and monocytes will be assessed in cord blood (collected at birth) and in peripheral blood (collected at 8 months). Among CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells, maturation subsets will be evaluated using CD45RA and CCR7 monoclonal antibodies and cellular activation will be assessed by CD38 and HLA-DR expression. Maturation subsets in B cells will be assessed using CD27, IgD and IgM monoclonal antibodies. Monocytes will also be investigated for the expression of TLR2 and TLR4. T and B cell function will be assessed after in vitro stimulation by the expression of CD154 (CD40 ligand) in T and CD40 in B cells. Plasmacytoid and myeloid dendritic cells will be analyzed from the functional point of view after in vitro stimulation using of HLA-DR expression and g-interferon production.Results from this study will provide a better understanding of the immune system of children born to renal transplant recipients immediately after gestational exposure to immunosuppressive drugs and after 8 months without the influence of those drugs.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ONO, E.; DOS SANTOS, A. M.; VIANA, P. O.; DINELLI, M. I. S.; SASS, N.; DE OLIVEIRA, L.; GOULART, A. L.; DE MORAES-PINTO, M. I.. Immunophenotypic Profile and Increased Risk of Hospital Admission for Infection in Infants Born to Female Kidney Transplant Recipients. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, v. 15, n. 6, p. 1654-1665, JUN 2015. (08/06232-2)