Transplantation infectionCylex ImmuKnow Assay Levels Are Lower in Lung Transplant Recipients With Infection
Section snippets
Methods
Fifty-seven lung transplant recipients from Loyola University Medical Center were evaluated for inclusion in this study. Inclusion criteria consisted of lung transplant recipients who were able to provide informed consent, and had obtained a steady-state trough tacrolimus level. Baseline demographics, current immunosuppressive regimen, presence of infection (positive culture in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid with clinical symptoms), tacrolimus dose and trough levels and ImmuKnow assay data were
Results
Fifty-seven lung transplant recipients were included in this study. Baseline demographics from this group of patients are presented in Table 1. Two patients with Grade A1 rejection were included in this cohort of lung transplant recipients. One hundred forty-three samples were collected from clinically stable patients approximately 703 ± 695 days after lung transplantation. The average ImmuKnow assay level was 244 ± 138 ATP ng/ml. The median ImmuKnow assay was 236 ATP ng/ml (range 5 to 669 ATP
Discussion
To our knowledge, this pilot study is the first to assess the use of the Cylex ImmuKnow assay as a measure of functional immunity in lung transplant recipients receiving standard immunosuppression. Importantly, we found a significant association between low ImmuKnow assay level and infection in our lung transplant population. The average level for the ImmuKnow assay in these 15 patients was 111 ng/ml (range 5 to 305 ng/ml), significantly below the moderate level (range 225 to 525 ng/ml)
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